


Gamers Don't Shoot Zombies!

by KotOR_Luvr



Category: Call of Duty (Video Games)
Genre: Action, Blood and Violence, Call of Duty: Black Ops III, Call of Duty: Zombies, F/M, Friendship, Horror, Humor, Language, M/M, Romance, primis
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-12
Updated: 2018-12-05
Packaged: 2019-03-03 23:17:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 74,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13351578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KotOR_Luvr/pseuds/KotOR_Luvr
Summary: Vivian, Scott and Daren have been best friends since the beginning of high school, mainly spending time together playing video games across Xbox Live. Although they've had their trials, none would ever match up with the trial they all now face; they must fight alongside four heroes against the horde of Zombies that will surely kill them if they don't stop acting like gaming idiots.





	1. Gaming Buddies

**Author's Note:**

> I had thought to myself a while ago that it would be pretty hilarious if a bunch of teens or young adults got into Black Ops 3 Zombies and the 2,0's just saw a bunch of weirdos or people acting like a bunch of idiots. I couldn't resist the idea and I decided to write it down!

"You're gonna get me killed, mate!"

"That's the point!"

"I'll lose my perk-"

Too late, it would seem, as she ended up jumping over the edge of the stairway and killing herself instantly. She growled in frustration whilst her friend laughed. "Dude, and I saw that!" He exclaimed, trying to catch his breath between his fits of laughter.

Despite herself, she couldn't help but laugh as well. "But good luck, eh? You got a horde of Zombies coming up."

There was a brief silence before he ended up shrieking. Not even a second later, and the round was over. Vivian cackled almost maniacally at his failure. "Dude, that's what you get!"

"Why didn't you help me?!" He demanded.

"I was down and outta ammo!" She replied. "I said there was an insta-kill but you just decided to go 'ha, no, fuck you!' and let me die. And I had my pack-a-punched Argus too!"

"Fuck your Argus!" He screamed into the mic, making her wince and lower the volume on her headset. "Talk to me when you have a double pack-a-punched Ray Gun,  _then_  you can complain!"

They both laughed at each other, then, both at their fails and at their poorly-thought-out pranks. this is how most of their Zombies gaming sessions went, where they went in serious and came out giggling like a couple of school girls.

Vivian took a deep breath and wiped at the tears in her eyes. "Daren, if we  _ever_  ended up in the apocalypse, we'd so be dead in like a heartbeat!"

"Not before I throw you to the zombies, first." He replied. "Then I might have a chance."

Vivian rolled her eyes and she scrolled through her gobblegum packs, checking to make sure she had everything in order and stocked up. "So you're telling me that, if we ended up in the Call of Duty apocalypse, that you'd instantly throw me, your best friend, into the horde of Zombies, just so you  _might_  have a chance at living?"

"Yup."

She stared at the screen for a few moments. "You're a dick."

She could practically hear the smile in his voice. "I know."

They both laughed.

They both stayed silent for a few moments, getting their Gobblegum packs ready and their loadouts ready. Although they never leveled up too much whenever they played, they always liked to mix things up to see what was best for them. Vivian was always picky, thinking about the best strategy for each map, and Daren was fine with one setup for several maps. She was the strategist, he was the one going in with his guns blazing. He was also her backup if her strategies never worked, and she was his backup in case he got swarmed. Once they got into the later rounds, they would back each other up (most of the time) and then things sometimes would get ridiculous. They took the game seriously enough, but they liked to have fun while they were at it.

"Ay, you ready?" She asked.

"Yup. Been ready for like, ten minutes."

Vivian sighed and rolled her eyes. "Do you  _ever_  take the time to actually look over your loadouts?"

"Just start the game, we're not arguing about this again."

"Fine, but this discussion isn't over. You need better loadouts." She stated simply, pressing the 'A' button on her controller to start the game.

Back to the Origins map, she thought. They had been trying to beat the level for a while but she always ended up getting herself killed while he was dawdling about. She wanted that calling card...

They both remained silent for a few moments, Vivian checking her phone and Daren doing whatever he did when he waited between matches. Whenever they played Zombies, Vivian enjoyed exploring and researching the lore on the Zombies chronicles and story lines, so she didn't end up confused whenever they played.

"Is the game frozen?"

Vivian looked up to see that, even after over five minutes, the screen on her TV was still black and there was no sound coming from the game. "If the game was frozen, wouldn't we be disconnected from party chat?" She asked.

She could hear Daren rummaging about for something and then pressing furiously at his Xbox controller buttons. "Why the fuck does this game hate us? It keeps acting up whenever we play."

"Treyarch just needs to get their shit together." I replied with a shrug.

_'I want to play.'_

Vivian paused for a moment. "Do you have someone over?"

"No. Do you?"

"Do I have little sisters, you idiot?"

_'I want to play...'_

Daren was now clearly becoming annoyed. "Okay, Vee, you gotta stop that. That just sounds creepy."

She sneered at the television as if he could see her through it, her brown eyes seemingly boring a hole through the screen. "Why do you think it's me all the time?"

"Because you tend to be annoying!"

_'Will you play with me?'_  The small voice called out, now slightly louder.

Vivian, now creeped out and feeling slightly dizzy, took off her headphones for a moment. "Daren, mate, I'm gonna go get something to eat."

Before he replied she set the headset down on her bed and went to go upstairs, her legs suddenly feeling heavy. Was she tired? She couldn't be getting tired, it wasn't even close to ten o'clock!

Maybe her medications were just beginning to wear off, is all, she thought. Just, sit down and relax and take a breather. Don't try climbing the stairs when you're dizzy.

Plunking herself down onto the couch, Vivian briefly closed her eyes, thinking that a quick nap would do her some good. Little did she know that the darkness that soon overwhelmed her was something far darker and much more sinister at work. The dark tendrils wrapped around her, slowly taking her, bringing her to the pit of hell in which they came from.

_'I want you to play with me...'_


	2. This Isn't A Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their first day of killing zombies together doesn't go entirely to plan, but hey, what's an adventure without a few bumps in the road?

She groaned and stretched out her aching limbs, her head shaking slightly from the giant yawn she had produced. Sleeping on the couch was never a good thing, she thought to herself. Whenever she did, she ended up with sore limbs and tight muscles for the entirety of the day.

Vivian heard a small 'click' sound before she felt something cold press against her head. "Don't move."

She groaned again and rolled over, turning her back to whatever or  _whoever_  was talking to her. "Mmph make me-e..." She slurred, still only just beginning to properly wake up.

A gunshot sounded and she shrieked, rolling off of the couch and landing on the ground with a  _thud_. Her body shaking from the shock, she backed herself up against the couch, her hands tucking into herself. Her brown eyes darted around the room, looking for the source of the  _extremely_  loud noise, but her vision was still extremely blurry.

Someone spoke, their accent sounding almost German. "Was that truly necessary? Now the poor  _fraulein_  is terrified!"

Vivian blinked several times, trying to rid her eyes of their tiredness. She tried backing away from whoever was speaking once again, but her back hit nothing but wood.

Her couch wasn't made from wood.

"Terrified?!" A familiar voice shouted. "You shot at her and she's scared stiff now, you fuck-nugg - keep that thing away from me!"

"Daren?"

A deep, growling voice spoke next. "Well, she isn't too scared to talk, now is she?"

The last of the bleariness being blinked away, Vivian was able to get a much better look at her surroundings. It was a cold-looking stone room, with a bit of pipe-work (which she could hear _something_  passing through them). There were open spots in the walls, but they were boarded up (rather pathetically, in her opinion), and it looked dark outside so it was most likely night-time. There was four men in the room, one of them holding a small pistol. Was he wearing a leather jacket? And did that leather jacket have blood?

The second man had a hand on the shoulder of the one wearing the leather jacket. He didn't have too many defining features, other than he had a few vials of red liquid attached to the harness around him.

One of the men also had a sword trained on Daren, a man who had a man-bun (which really was just the twenty-first century mullet) and another bigger, slightly buffer guy with a beard and mustache had a pistol aimed at Scott.

She actually recognized these people, but her stupid brain refused to believe they were actually there. This is a fictional world, with fictional people. Unless she suddenly became insane or was dreaming, they shouldn't be here.

And  _they_  shouldn't be here, either.

Despite the other several burning questions in her mind, there was only one she wanted to scream. "What the fuck are you two doing here?!" She demanded, not caring for the hostile company in the room.

Scott edged away slightly from Nikolai and Daren couldn't help but laugh (albeit somewhat nervously). " _That's_  the first thing you ask?!"

Tank Dempsey cocked his pistol again, silencing the young adults. "And we're asking the same thing." He stated, pointing his pistol at Vivian once again. "Who are you? And what are you doing here?"

Doctor Edward Richtofen sighed. "We already know why they're here, Dempsey."

"We don't know for sure."

Vivian tried moving out of the line of fire of the pistol but Tank was quick to note her movement. "You move one more muscle, I will blow your brains out!"

Vivian's passing fear turned to anger. "Well guess what? I don't like guns so put the thing away and maybe I'll answer your questions, you fucking eh'!"

The American soldier hesitated for a moment before putting his gun down, but not holstering it. "You run, you die. Simple as that."

She shrugged slightly. "I don't know where we are."

Scott snorted at his friend. "Where do you think we are? We're at that place in Origins, Vee!"

Vivian looked around again, this time more disbelievingly. "Wait, so we're in France?"

Scott shrugged slightly. "Well, yeah, if that's where this all takes place."

Vivian made a face. "For all the times we've played Zombies, you don't seem to know your lore or locations very well." She then shook her head. "That's besides the point though; we're in Northern France with these guys, so that means we're in the year of 1918 - how is this possible?!"

Edward crossed his arms. "Samantha most likely brought you here."

Dempsey scowled at Vivian, as if trying to intimidate her. "Which means that these guys could just be another one of her demon-spawns!"

Daren could be heard scoffing. "Do you see glowing eyes on us? Or dead skin or anything?"

The American soldier turned to the young man and, as a result, turned his back on Vivian. "That don't mean a damn thing, kid! You still haven't told us who you are or what you're doing here."

Vivian, seeing that no more eyes were on her, slowly crept up behind Dempsey, making sure that she didn't make a sound as she moved. Maybe if she somehow got the upper hand they'd be able to get out of here!

Scott spoke next. "Well, it's kinda the only thing keeping us alive at this rate. If we tell you, you probably won't believe us, and just shoot us. I like living, thanks."

_Almost there..._

"Dempsey!" Takeo shouted, making Vivian freeze up as her hand was reaching out for the American's gun.

He instantly whipped around and shot at her. A sharp, burning pain caused Vivian to cry out and fall back, once again moving away from Tank whilst holding a hand to her ear. "Was that necessary, Dempsey?!" Richtofen shouted.

Daren and Scott, seeing their best friend harmed, immediately became enraged and shouted at the American man. "The fuck is your damage, man?!" Daren barked.

"She didn't ask for that!"

Takeo pressed his sword threateningly to Daren's throat and Nikolai aimed his pistol. "Stay down on knees!"

As the men all shouted at each other, Vivian pulled her shaking hand away from her ear as she felt something warm dripping between her fingers and onto her shirt. Blood. Tears stung her eyes and they fell freely at the pain that was now making itself very-well known. "That hurts..."

"Of course it hurts!" Daren shouted at her. "You just got shot by that asshole!"

"It's not supposed to hurt..." She muttered. "This is just a dream, right?"

Richtofen shoved Dempsey to the side and knelt down beside the quivering woman, pulling a clean kerchief out from his pocket. "Keep still,  _fraulein_." He told her. When he placed the kerchief against her ear, she suddenly snapped back to reality and smacked his hand away, moving away from him until her back hit the wall. "Don't touch me!" She growled, holding her hand back against her ear. "Frigging hurts..."

Richtofen sighed and edged closer to her. "I am trying to help you,  _fraulein_ , not hurt you."

"My name is Vivian!" She snapped. "And why should I believe you? Your American buddy just shot at me after all!"

"His actions do not reflect everyone else's, Vivian." He stated simply. When he raised the kerchief again, Vivian released the grip on her ear and hissed when the cloth pressed against it, keeping the blood from making a bigger mess. "Just let go of the other two; I doubt they're going anywhere."

Hesitantly, Nikolai put the gun away and Takeo sheathed his blade, making both of the young men sigh in relief before making their way over to their friend. "Jesus, since when could ears bleed that much?" Daren asked.

Vivian winced and attempted to laugh, which really just sounded like a small sob. Jeez, she probably looked pathetic and weak to the four soldiers. "Everything bleeds a lot, I guess." She looked up at her two friends. "Maybe you two should introduce yourselves."

As they introduced themselves to the group (well, more like to Takeo and Nikolai, as Tank was having a mini-tantrum pacing in a room adjacent to the one they were in), Richtofen said to her, "You should not have done that,  _frau_ -"

She glared and he cleared his throat. "Vivian. It was rather stupid, considering we have guns and you don't."

She couldn't help but laugh quietly. "Well, I'm a stupid kind of person, hon."

He raised an eyebrow at her at the nickname, but he shrugged it off and continued to clean off the dripping blood from her ear. "Mmph, not as bad as one would think, but any more to the right and he could have killed you."

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Comforting, thanks..."

As he continued to tend to her wound, she didn't fail to notice how the doctor's eyes would occasionally flicker to her hair. What was wrong with it? Was it messy? Subconsciously she ran her fingers through it in a way to comb it, but his blue eyes still flickered to it and she merely shrugged it off. The tears of pain soon ebbed away and she let out a deep breath as the pain initially subsided (and the ringing in her ears).

Without any warning Richtofen placed a damp, clean cloth to her ear and Vivian immediately cried out at the pain and flinched away from him. " _Jesus christ_!" She shouted, making everyone look over to her in shock and concern. "What are you doing?!"

"I am cleaning the wound with whiskey." He stated matter-of-factly. "Unless you want an infection?"

Grumbling to herself, Vivian allowed the doctor to resume his work. She hissed and balled her hands into fists as she felt the sting of the alcohol against the wound on her ear.

"So, where  _do_  you all come from?" The doctor asked, holding the cloth to her ear as he fished around in a leather pouch on his belt. "You do not have any familiar accents, as far as I can hear."

"We're from Canada." Scott answered him.

"You're a bunch of Canucks?"

Vivian fixed one of her most deathly glares on the American man, but he was undaunted by her gaze. Daren seemed only somewhat confused. "We're not on a hockey team."

Scott and Vivian both immediately laughed afterward, shocking the others slightly. "'Canuck' is a slang for Canadians, mate!" She told him between breaths. "He's basically insulting us."

"Oh..."

Vivian shook her head and cleared her throat. "Regardless, you got a problem with us being Canadian?"

Tank grunted and resumed his pacing and she sighed. To think I actually liked that guy, she thought, and now he's a complete dick!

A few moments of silence passed on before Richtofen finished with cleaning and bandaging her wounded ear and he stood from his spot on the floor. "I do not believe we were properly introduced." He said. "I am Edward Richtofen." He offered his hand and she took it, grunting as she got up from the stone floor. Why did her limbs feel so sore?

She nodded her head. "And the others?"

He went around the room. He first gestured to Tank. "Tank Dempsey, the American soldier. You've met." He pointed to Takeo, who was whetting his katana with a rounded smooth stone. "Takeo Masaki," he then gestured to Nikolai. "And Nikolai Belinski."

She nodded to Nikolai and Takeo, who nodded in return, and once again she didn't fail to notice how their eyes would flicker up to her hair. Now having slightly lost her patience, she raised her hands slightly. "Okay, is there something in my hair? I've brushed through it and it's short anyways, so it can't be messy."

Scott and Daren both chuckled and snorted and she snapped her head over to them. "What?"

Daren laughed. "Well, there  _is_  something in your hair, but it's not supposed to be."

"Your hair is  _blue_!" Scott clarified.

Finally realizing why she was getting all of the strange looks, she gasped and immediately laughed along with them. "Oh my god, I  _totally_  forgot!"

Vivian wasn't  _completely_  blue, but she had blue around the fauxhawk area of her hair, enough to make it look very strange to people who had never seen such a thing before (and probably wouldn't in their lifetime). She didn't colour her hair often, as she loved her natural (very) dark brown hair (a proud sign of her heritage, in her opinion) but sometimes she'd like to spruce it up and she would colour the fauxhawk area. The only other time she had done that was a few years ago and she had had it coloured  _pink_  (an she could only imagine how bad she would've looked if she kept it that colour  _now_ ).

Once their laughter initially subsided, Richtofen cleared his throat. " _Ja_ , the hair is... a little strange."

She chuckled. "Boy, the dead are roaming. That's stranger than blue hair!"

"And your clothing?"

Vivian looked down at herself and she and her friends broke into laughter once again. She lived alone so she didn't see too much reason to get out of her pyjamas unless she was going to work. She got at least the bottom half of herself changed, but she'd rather wear a comfortable shirt for the day rather than a tight uncomfortable one. And, currently, she was wearing one of her favourite  _Star Wars_  pyjama shirts that read, 'Gone To A Galaxy Far Far Away'. Her shirt which was now stained with blood. Scott and Daren were dressed normally, both in jeans and a t-shirt. But none of them were wearing shoes.

In between breaths, she managed to speak, "We don't look crazy at all, guys!" Which only made them laugh harder.

The Primis members all exchanged concerned as well as annoyed looks. These young adults, they didn't know  _exactly_  where they came from (although Richtofen had guessed from another dimension, most likely, considering how odd they dressed and appeared). And these young adults were just acting like a bunch of idiots, so they could only imagine how they'd act once the dead were around them.

Managing to settle themselves down, the three friends chuckled out their last laughs before they realized all eyes were on them. "Now that I think about it," said Daren, "We probably do look kinda crazy."

"Yeah." Scott agreed with him.

"Should we tell them about, like, our own timeline and such?" Asked Vivian. "Or wouldn't they get it."

Richtofen tilted his head to the side, his curiosity now piqued. "'Your own timeline'? Now things have gotten interesting."

Vivian opened her mouth to explain but a sudden boom of thunder sounded, making her jump in surprise. The thunder was followed by a giggle, a really creepy giggle. " _Good morning_!"

Tank looked outside the windows to see that it had gotten brighter outside, signalling that their time for a break was over, and he growled low and shook his head. "Of all the fucking times..." He muttered.

Suddenly the four soldiers all started scrambling about the room, checking their weapons and checking to make sure the windows were boarded up. This made Vivian nervous and she approached her two friends. "What's going on here?"

She felt a harsh hand on her shoulder and a pistol was put in her hand. She recognized it as the Mauser C96. "Know how to shoot one of these, Blue?"

Vivian held the gun at a distance for a moment, disgusted by the weapon. She wasn't one for holding guns (not that she ever really held one, but the idea of it was horrible for her) and this was no exception. "Uhh..." Her eyes widened slightly and she placed her one free hand on her hip. "Oh, actually there was this one time where-"

She hadn't been paying attention to where her fingers were moving to and as a result, her index finger pulled the trigger of the pistol. The bullet hit the stone wall next to Nikolai's head, making him look up in shock. Scott and Daren backed away from her and she sighed. "No, I've never shot a war weapon..."

The American soldier growled in frustration and looked at the other two Canadians. "Do  _any_  of you know how to shoot a gun? Because the dead are going to be right on top of us in a few minutes!"

Daren raised his hand. "I've shot a rifle."

Scott then said, "I've held like, LMG's and snipers but I've never shot them."

Tank raised his voice slightly. "Does anyone have spare weapons to give these kids?"

Nikolai and Takeo each handed a small pistol to Tank, who gave it to Daren and Scott (all Mausers).

Vivian looked desperately to Tank, hoping she didn't have to do what he was expecting them all to do, but he wasn't looking at her. "Is anyone gonna baby-sit these three, because I sure as hell aren't!"

"We all work together to help each other." Richtofen replied, checking his own pistol.

Vivian furrowed her brows slightly. Why did they all have such weak weapons? Or rather, starting pistols? "Uh, what round are you guys on?"

They all paused and looked at her for a moment. " _Was_?" Asked Richtofen.

"Like, how long have you been at this?"

"We all died yesterday." Nikolai informed her. "This... is a fresh start. Again."

Her eyes widened in shock and she looked to her friends, who only shrugged at her in return. "Hey if you ask me, this is great because we can start right at the... well,  _start_."

"Nobody asked you though, Daren."

"Shut up, Vee."

"We know how to get things started."

Scott looked over to Takeo, who had his weapon trained on a window. "But what about the rest?"

His silence was all that was needed.

Vivian gestured for Scott to come over and they formed a small group huddle. She lowered her voice down slightly. "Guys... I don't think this is a game, anymore."

They both snapped in unison, "No shit, Sherlock!"

She rolled her eyes at them but she continued. "Okay, but seriously, some part of me thinks that they need more baby-sitting than we do."

"How?" Asked Daren. "They know more than we do."

"Well... not really." Said Scott. "Like, they know enough, but they don't know everything like we do."

She nodded her head enthusiastically. "Exactly! See, looks like these guys don't know how to agree with each other so they might be in a wee bit of trouble and, unlike them, we have a team."

"A fucked up team."

"Shut up, Daren."

The sudden wails of Zombies arose from around them and they all felt some sort of urgency. "Okay, they're not gonna listen to us easily, but we got this even if they don't!"

Daren chuckled and pointed to Scott. "He hates this map."

He nodded. "With a passion."

"But I don't!" She replied. "I have the whole walkthrough here in my head! Scott, you're our strategist, you know how to execute things best, and Daren? You're our backup and our best lookout and fighter!"

The first few shots were fired and they all flinched. Vivian scoured the depths of her mind, trying to remember how to do things. "Okay, first thing we need to do is let them all in! Then we need to save two zombies so we don't end up with a runner, then we turn on the generator, kill the Templars, and make our way to Generator Two in the first wave, if possible!"

Scott nodded in agreement. "We can split up if we need to as well! First, we gotta convince these guys to listen to us! Then, once the generator is going then a group can start making their way to the second generator, and we can go from there!"

Daren smiled. "I know where all the wall weapons are!"

They all looked to each other and once they nodded, they all set off to do what they needed to do.

Vivian went for Richtofen, since he seemed to warm up to her a lot better. She tapped his shoulder and he whipped around, pistol pointed at her head. "Chill, mate, it's just me!"

" _Blutige hölle_ , Vivian!" He hissed, lowering his gun. "I could have shot you!"

She ignored his anger and shook his shoulders slightly. "Look, this is gonna sound crazy, but you need to let the zombies in!"

" _Nein_ , not crazy. Pure insanity!"

She shook her head, now somewhat desperate. "No, no, see, my friends and I have done this before! We know how to do things! We  _have_  to let them in, or we're gonna regret it later, mate! We need to let them in so we can save two zombies before the next wave!"

The doctor considered her a moment, eyeing the young woman up and down. He sensed no deception from her, and a part of him screamed at him to listen. Rarely was his gut wrong, but there were the rare moments he could be. He was going to keep shooting, to do things how they always did them.

Then she had to go and give him the damn puppy dog eyes!

He winced and rolled his eyes, lowering his pistol so it pointed to the floor. "We need to let the zombies in!" He shouted over the gunshots.

Everyone suddenly stopped firing and Nikolai (who had gone up to the second floor with the Generator), looked from up the small stairway. "Are you crazy?!"

Vivian raised her hand. "Aye, we all have a little bit of insanity!"

Tank resumed shooting the zombies that came from the trench. "Why should we listen to you Canucks?!"

Daren puffed his chest slightly, now annoyed with the American soldier. "From the sounds of things, you guys haven't done that good of a fucking job on your own; we have a plan! A good one!"

Takeo shouted, "Quit wasting your ammo!"

Tank fired one last round before turning on his heel. "Do we want the dead crawling all over us?!"

Vivian stepped forward, the stone and broken wood crunching underneath her bare feet. "Well, yes and no. See, we need to keep two zombies around the end of this wave so we can activate the Generator. Once the first Generator is active, the Templars will spawn in. In the first round, they are one knife one kill, which makes things easy! Then, if we're able, we can head straight for Generator Two and get that up and running, and have more one-hit-one-kill Templars!"

The Primis group eyed up the Canadians suspiciously (well, all except for Richtofen). Takeo took a threatening step towards her. "And how do you know these things?"

Scott shook his head at him. "There  _really_  isn't time to explain. Just listen to us and with teamwork, we can get out of this!"

The Zombies started tearing at the wooden planks, roaring and screaming at them. Tank sighed. "Better explain quickly, Blue!"

She scowled at the nickname he had now given her, but she ignored him. "Okay, okay, so we let them in - ah, is there a point system?"

"Yes." Nikolai replied.

She nodded. "Okay, good, so when we let them in we shoot them a few times in the legs and then knife them - that's how you get the most points in the first couple waves! We all keep an eye on our windows and once each of us has at least one Zombie, then two people can shoot theirs and we leave two alive so we have time to do what we need to do!"

The boards started to break at a much faster pace and Takeo went up the stairs to help Nikolai while the rest of them ended up making a circle in the centre of the room, aiming their guns at their designated windows. "Not like we have much choice anymore," Tank muttered. "You better be right about this, kid!"

She elbowed him in his ribs. "I ain't a kid, dick-wad!"

As they all waited for the Zombies to break through, Vivian felt an extremely tight knot in her stomach, growing even tighter as a new board broke. She had never actually fired a gun. A  _real_  gun, and the thought of having to shoot the undead, with a real gun, it was beginning to make her a little sick. It was one thing to shoot at Zombies in a game, but it was another thing to shoot at them for real!

Dempsey suddenly elbowed her and she snapped. "What?!"

"Don't lock your elbows."

"Huh?"

He quickly helped and bent her elbows slightly and she looked confused for a short moment. "Locking your elbows can result in jamming up your joints!" He growled.

The Zombies suddenly started crawling through the windows and everyone opened fire. The sudden string of shots startled her and she pulled the trigger of the gun instinctively. Unprepared for the kick, the gun flew back and right into her face, making her cry out and she held her nose, which now started to bleed.

"Careful, Blue, it has a bit of a kick!"

"Thanks, jerk!" She examined the blood on her hand and she sniffled. "Did I hit anything?"

Dempsey stepped forward and knifed a Zombie, making it groan as it fell to the ground. "Nope!"

Vivian did her best to avoid shooting her gun. She'd be the back up in case one got too close (or so she kept telling herself). Once she saw only one Zombie coming from their window, she practically shouted, "Got one!"

Scott and Daren shouted back, "Got one!"

Out of Instinct, Richtofen knifed at the last Zombie at his window, immediately making himself cringe. Vivian noticed this and she patted his shoulder. "Hard habit to break; believe me, hon, I know!"

Nikolai and Takeo made their way down the stairs and they had a Zombie trailing behind them, albeit slowly trailing behind them. So, three Zombies, great!

Scott fired his gun at the one at his window and then that left two. The group visibly eased up and relaxed slightly, reloading their weapons.

"Okay," Vivian started, "Now we need to start the first generator! Ah... can anyone tell how many points or cash they got?"

A number suddenly flashed in front of her eyes, a one and a zero; ten. She blinked rapidly and she shook her head before she got a plethora of answers, the most prominent number being 1,350.

"We all need to make our way to the first Generator! Whoever has the most points opens the first door that leads to Generator Two!" She explained. "Then whoever has the second most amount of points opens the first door, and  _only_  the first door, to Generator Three! If we're lucky, we could have all three generators done before the second wave!"

Scott trained the two zombies, making sure they didn't set their eyes on the group at the first Generator. "We aren't splitting into Singles, though! We need a group of three and then two groups of two."

"I'm not going with Blue," Stated Tank. "I don't want to babysit her."

She immediately glared. "Just for that, I'm claiming partnership with you; I can handle myself, thanks!"

Daren nodded. "Maybe it's better that way. Scott and I can head to Generator Three, then the other three can stick here and then go to No Man's Land and wait for us there once we're done."

Scott made a sound and they looked to see that one of the Zombies nearly grabbed at his shirt. "Well, we can't start the Generators at the same time; if one of the groups gets in trouble, we need time to get to them and being flooded by Templars isn't too great. Once one of the doors is open, the first Generator starts and then we do what we need to!"

Vivian ran over to the door that lead to Generator Two and she gave a look to Dempsey, who scowled at her. "Hurry up, butter cup!"

He growled and practically stomped his way over to her. Before he opened the door, she called to the group, "Make sure you don't buy too much before wave two; you need those points!"

As soon as Dempsey opened the door, the first Generator started and he bolted through the trenches. Vivian made a sound of surprise before taking off after him. She cringed as she felt the mud and goop touch her feet and she now desperately wished she took to wearing 'around the house' shoes. "Wait for me!" She called out to him.

"Why should I?" He called back, turning around the corner.

"I have teeny legs compared to you!"

And she wasn't lying. She was maybe 5'5" and she only came up to  _maybe_  his chest. She didn't know for sure, but all she knew was that she was short compared to him. "I'm also not used to running everywhere, and I don't have shoes!"

"Not my problem, Blue!"

As she tried keeping up with him, she could hear a few gunshots back at the first Generator and they were most likely shooting at the Templars (which was really dumb, anyways, considering they could kill them by knifing them once).

Once they finally made it to the second Generator, Vivian heaved a heavy sigh and placed her hands on her knees, gulping in deep breaths. "Why are you... so fast?"

He didn't bother with a response and, instead, handed her a military knife, to which she made a face. "What will I need this for?"

"To knife the Templars." He responded. "You said they were one knife one kill in the first wave."

Another wave of nausea hit her and her head began to spin. She didn't want to shoot Zombies, and she sure as hell didn't want to knife any of them! Why  _did_  she decide to go with Dempsey, anyways?

He had at least given her time to catch her breath before activating the Generator, to which she immediately backed up into a corner. If she was going to have to knife, she was going to make sure she couldn't get jumped!

The first few Templars instantly spawned and she suddenly froze up, her body stiffening and her eyes widening. Jesus, this... this was all actually  _real_. Shit, why didn't she go with Scott and Daren? At least they'd be willing to help her and actually understand her fears!

It wasn't until a Templar grabbed her by her throat that she suddenly snapped out of her stupor and she lashed out at the undead creature. Her lashing and thrashing caused her to slit the Zombie's throat and making it fall dead to the muddy ground, taking her with it, the light in its eyes dying.

Seeing them die in the game was one thing, but this, actually  _seeing_  them die, seeing the corrupted, dark blood dripping off of her knife, pooling and mixing into the mud, actually  _smelling_  the death and decay, it was a whole new level for her.

Suddenly feeling  _extremely_  nauseated, Vivian heaved up the contents of her stomach into the mud, tears stinging at her eyes. Jesus, why was she so  _weak_?!

As her vomiting died down, she felt a hand on her back and she looked up to see Dempsey, his eyes suddenly riddled with concern. Were the Templars all gone? They must be, since the Generator was up and running. "Hey, Blue, you alright?"

Vivian sniffled and wiped at her mouth with the inside of her shirt. She probably looked  _really_  weak now, especially in front of him. "I feel sick..."

"Probably the stench." He patted her back. "Walk it off."

She shook her head and she attempted to stand, but nearly slipped in the mud doing so. "I'm a farm girl, I'm used to disgusting, and I mean  _disgusting_  smells and I never mind getting dirty."

"Was that your first kill then?"

Her eyes trailed down to the fallen Templar and she felt bile rise in her throat once more, but she tried her best to keep it down.

Tank immediately understood her silence. He had seen that look on many young men's faces before; he himself had that look once. The first kill, sometimes didn't sit well with people. Since she was a woman, he kind of expected this to happen anyways.

He patted her back once more and she wiped at her nose with a sniffle. "We need to get to No Man's Land. They're all probably waiting."

They both trudged over down the pathway, she more solemnly than him. He tapped her on the shoulder and he showed her a pair of boots, to which she gave him a look. "What?"

"Wear them," he replied. "You need some kind of shoes out here."

She eyed them up and down, tempted to reject them since she knew he probably got them off of a corpse, but it was true' she needed shoes or boots. It's better to have protection rather than risking her feet getting cut on something in the mud.

Almost reluctantly, she took the boots from him and put them on, wrapping the buckles tight around her calf. They reached up to her knees, which was great, because that meant more protection. And they felt like a nice fit as well. "Nice." She said.

Her response was a low groan and she looked around to see a Zombie coming around the corner from the trench. "Did they let one of them out of the door?" She asked nobody in particular.

She then heard several more groans and loud screams and a wave of fear hit her as more Zombies rounded the corner, making both she and Tank go back up the stairs.

Vivian's fear suddenly turned into anger and she roared, " _Who the fuck killed the last two fucking zombies_?!"


	3. Teamwork and Panzers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team tries to learn to work together under pressure as the Zombies become the least of their worries.

As they walked to the third Generator, they started to theorize about how they got there.

"Like, what's-his-name said we most likely got here because of Samantha, the Demonic Announcer," Said Daren, stepping over a corpse in the pathway. "I get how me and Vee probably got here, if this isn't some sort of fucked up dream, but how did you end up getting here?"

Scott shrugged his shoulders. "His name is Richtofen. And really, I dunno, it beats me. All you did was invite me to the party and then I joined you guys in the game."

"Then shortly after, we got here." Daren finished. He shook his head as they approached the Generator. "Still doesn't make sense how you got here with us."

Scott activated the Generator and readied his pistol. "Maybe Samantha didn't want loose ends?" He suggested.

He nodded. "Maybe."

The Templars started to spawn and they stayed to knifing them, gathering as many points as they could without wasting their bullets. They weren't given too many extra clips so they wanted to conserve their ammo as much as possible.

Daren stepped back and swung his knife into the Templars' chest, however, the Templar didn't fall, and it only swung its arm out at him. Shouting in both pain and surprise, Daren stepped back and plunged the knife into the Zombie's chest once more, making it fall. "The fuck was that?"

Scott started making a train before the Generator finally killed the remaining Templars. "I had the same problem too!" He exclaimed. "What happened?"

They both heard the sounds of shuffling feet and the cries of the damned as they got closer and closer. Both realizing what had happened, they immediately went back-to-back and kept their pistols up, ready to fire at the incoming Zombies. Then they heard someone shout,

" _Who the fuck killed the last two fucking zombies_?!"

They both looked at each other and laughed slightly. " _Someone_  sounds pissed."

Scott chuckled but then gasped when a Zombie nearly grabbed at his arm and he shot his pistol rapidly, killing the Zombie with a shot to the head. "You know how she is though, and it makes sense! They got the entire strategy messed up! And, we're only in a group of two right now so how are we going to get through this?"

Daren shot at the Zombies, killing them with a swipe of his knife after shooting them a few times. "We've run this map together before, we can do this!"

"That was when we were playing the game!" Scott shouted over the undead's voices and their bullets. "And I hate this map!"

"Because you suck at it!"

They both quickly reloaded and continued to fire at the zombies, now with a little less precision than before. If they stayed there in the center of the platform, they were going to get swarmed and die if they don't get to somewhere safer.

"We should get moving!" Said Daren.

Scott pushed at his back and they took off down the path and back into the trenches. "Go to No Man's Land!" He shouted. "That's where Vee said we'd meet!"

/ / /

Tank fired his pistol at the oncoming group of Zombies and Vivian kept hers leveled. If they managed to get too close, then she'd shoot, she told herself.

"Are you going to fucking shoot that gun or what?!" Tank shouted, shooting a Zombie in the head.

Vivian didn't respond and she kept her gun leveled at the horde. Just be the backup, be the backup...

Tank suddenly stopped shooting and backed away, reloading his pistol quickly before standing there. He saw what she was doing and he wasn't about to babysit her the whole time just because her trigger finger decided to stop working.

Vivian hesitated before she shot Dempsey a look, to which he shrugged. "If you're not going to shoot, neither am I."

She stared at him disbelievingly and he crossed his arms, giving her a look that said that he wasn't playing around. Her head snapped back to the oncoming group of Zombies and she suddenly felt sick to her stomach. She started to sweat, her hands becoming shaky, her face turning pale. Live, or die, she thought.

A zombie pushed through the rest of the group with a shrill cry, making a running start towards her.

Live, or die.

The zombie got closer to her and Tank stepped back a ways so the zombie wouldn't fix onto him.

Live, or die...

It went to grab at her.

 _Live_.

Vivian pulled the trigger of the gun and the Zombie fell dead at her feet, the light in its eyes fading. A clean headshot.

She stared at the undead demon for a few moments, disbelief in her own actions apparent on her face. It wasn't something entirely living, but it was something that moved and something that resembled a person. Tank hadn't been in the war for long before he got sent to the excavation site, but he had seen more than enough looks like that on the faces of newer soldiers.

He was expecting her to vomit again, considering she couldn't handle the fact she had knifed one of the undead flesh addicts, but he was taken completely by surprise when she suddenly started to open fire on the rest of them and he quickly followed suit, trying to shoot the zombies and kill them before she managed to waste her ammo. He had seen this before as well, but rarely did he ever see it. A quick splash of blood, a new wave of courage, and you've got yourself a trigger-happy soldier.

Tank quickly reloaded his weapon, intent on shooting the last one in sight himself but Vivian unloaded the rest of her clip into the Zombie. Even as it fell, she still unloaded the rest of her bullets until her gun began to click. Even then, she continued to pull the trigger.

Dempsey approached her and put a hand on her shoulder, shaking it slightly. "Hey, it's dead, stop shooting."

Vivian gasped as if she had broken the surface of water and her body began to quiver and shake but her grip on the pistol stayed tight. It was hard for him to tell if she was in shock or suffering from an excessive adrenaline rush but either way, he needed to make sure that she wouldn't do anything stupid and try to calm her down.

Thing was, he didn't really know how to comfort women...

He took care of his mama back home and he always held her when she cried or was upset, but that was his mama, this is just some random woman whom of which he shot in the ear earlier and didn't entirely trust. He didn't know how to comfort women out on the battlefield, only young men who never killed before.

"You, uh..." He cleared his throat. "You alright, Blue?"

She stayed silent for a few more moments before she blinked a few times. "That..." She suddenly broke into a big, goofy smile. "Was  _awesome_!"

She whipped around and faced him, her grin spreading even more. "Did you see that?! That was awesome, I've never shot a gun before! I didn't do too bad either but my aim was off. Are they always this slow?"

Tank was taken aback by her sudden exuberance and he could only listen as she ranted (and worry about the next group of zombies that was slowly making their way to them). He nodded a few times and then said, "It's great, you did good, but we have more company!"

She took a deep breath, still shaking from the adrenaline. "I don't have ammo!" She said, still grinning.

He handed her another clip and she quickly reloaded, to which he suddenly became confused. "How do you know how to reload a gun if you've never shot one?"

"Observation and research!" She said. She tried aiming her gun at the Zombies, but her hands were shaking far too much for her to even aim correctly. "Why am I shaking so much?" She asked.

"The adrenaline!" He replied, firing a few rounds. "But we need to get out of here or we'll end up surrounded! Aren't we supposed to meet in No Man's Land?"

Vivian, slowly calming down from her adrenaline rush, quickly assessed the situation. Now that the strategy was broken off, she was at a loss as to what to do next. She often played by the rules and followed instruction (depending on who the instructions came from, of course) but once something got broken off, she had a hard time knowing what to do.

But, this wasn't a game anymore. Improvisations could easily be made with barely any consequence. Which was good.

"How are we going to get through these guys without dying or running out of ammunition?" She asked.

Without warning, Dempsey threw a grenade at the group of Zombies and then quickly grabbed her by her arm and practically dragged her along, breaking into a (seemingly) blistering sprint. She struggled to keep up with him, her feet only occasionally skidding along the ground before she found her balance.

They slipped through the Zombies with ease with plenty of time to spare before the grenade went off, but Tank still pulled her through the trenches. He was doing a speed run and a half, she thought.

By the time they both made it to No Man's Land, meeting with the other two groups at the main dig site, she was already keeping up with him without having him pulling her by the arm. However, he was able to come to a stop more easier than she was (due to practice, really).

Vivian wasn't used to running so fast (or running at all, really) and when she tried to stop, she only succeeded in tripping over her own feet and face-planting into the mud, making Scott and Daren laugh.

She spat out the mud that managed to make its way into her mouth and she couldn't help but laugh along with her two friends as she picked herself up, wiping the mud off of her as best as she could. "Well, shit." She said.

Daren laughed harder. "You better hope it's not!"

Again, the Primis members all looked at them and most shook their heads disapprovingly. Why weren't they taking this situation seriously? The dead were hanging around them and they had to worry about getting things done before nightfall. This wasn't a time for fun and games!

Tank immediately grew impatient and he growled. "Are you done being a bunch of kids?"

They tried their best to calm themselves down and Vivian cleared her throat. "Right, yeah, sorry." Once she calmed down and cleaned off the mud, she then said, "But not as sorry as the fucker who killed  _the last two zombies_!"

"Oh, boy..." Muttered Daren.

The three members who stayed at Generator One, Takeo, Nikolai and Richtofen, all looked at each other nervously. She seemed like a nice young woman, but they had heard her scream at them earlier and they gathered she wasn't quite as nice when angry.

"Look, I get that you guys aren't used to this system," She said, slowly approaching them. "But come on, how do you kill two zombies?"

Vivian felt a hand on her shoulder and she looked back to see Daren, a slightly concerned look in his eyes. "Maybe we should try something different. There's seven of us, who's to say we can't just split and try to do the Egg? It'd go by quicker."

She turned on her heel. "Well, who's also to say that we won't get backed into a corner and not have anyone to help?"

Scott shrugged slightly. "There's always risk. but we'll never know unless we actually try. What's the worst that could happen?"

"We get eaten." She replied.

"What's the second-worst thing that could happen?" He asked.

Vivian thought this over carefully. They could split up into three groups, but one of them would have to be in each group so things would get done properly. But if some group ends up going down and the other is unable to reach that group in time, then the other group would be put at risk in going to help and they'd all end up dead. Then again, they had fully capable soldiers on their side, the chances of them actually going down permanently were pretty slim.

She sighed heavily. "Alright, we should try it. But who's going to go with who? And we need one group of three."

Daren gestured to the Primis group, whom of which were having a small group discussion of their own. "We should tell the plan to them to see if they're cool with it. Teamwork, after all."

She shrugged, blowing her mud-slick hair out from in front of her eyes. "Fine with me."

They all turned to the Primis members and Vivian approached them. Almost hesitantly (because he looked like he could crush her with a bear hug, mainly), she tapped Nikolai on the shoulder and he turned his head. "Yes?"

"We have a plan..." She said, almost shyly.

The Russian man raised his eyebrows slightly and turned to her, completely ignoring his other three companions. "And what would that be, _malen'kiy siniy_?"

She furrowed her brows slightly. "'Little' something..." she muttered. She didn't speak very fluent Russian. Shaking her head she gestured back to her friends. "We thought that maybe, in order to get things done a little more quickly, we should keep split into three groups, each group having one of us in it," she gestured between herself and her friends, "and try and finish things separately."

"That is not bad idea, Vivian." Nikolai replied, giving her a small smile. Was he being friendly, she wondered, or just trying to make her more comfortable around them? She didn't seem shy, did she?

Richtofen nodded. "Not bad at all. But who will be going with who?"

"I'll go with Tank!" Daren offered, to which she cast him a funny look.

"Why?"

"Because he's cool."

"I shall go with Scott." Said Takeo, who walked over to him.

Vivian looked to Nikolai and Richtofen. "You two want to go with either of those groups?" She asked. "If not, you're stuck with me."

"Maybe it's best if you have two with you." Tank said to her, approaching a wooden sign that lead up to the excavation site. He touched the chalk drawing on the wooden board and he got the MP-40 in his hands. "You probably need the extra help."

Vivian growled low and glared at the American. Before she could retaliate with some snide remark, Richtofen was quick to defuse the situation. "I would rather have her with me anyhow, seeing as she's more knowledgeable about how to do things here."

Nikolai nodded in agreement. " _Da_."

Vivian sighed. "Well, at least you're both nice about it."

They all heard the screams of the damned and they looked to see a group of zombies, crawlers, making their way up the ramp. Vivian snapped her fingers. " _That's_  why you threw the grenade, Tank!"

"No shit, Blue."

* * *

"This gets easier the more you do it!"

" _Was_  does?"

"Shooting guns."

"Have you never shot a gun before,  _fraulein_?"

Vivian pulled the trigger of the MP-40, killing two zombies as they came over the barriers. For a few moments, all was quiet (well, aside from the warfare going on outside) so she assumed someone was holding a crawler somewhere, and she heaved a breath. "Yeah."

It had taken her a few tries to get used to the kick of an automatic rifle (she had a literal spray-and-pray moment when she first fired it), but once she had killed a few zombies, she was able to steady the weapon in her hands more. She just wished it wasn't so heavy.

Nikolai fired his own pistol at a zombie before stabbing it. "You are lucky to not have had to learn to use weapon,  _malen'kiy siniy_."

She  _tsked_  and turned to face the Russian. "That's the second time you've called me that; 'little' something. I don't understand Russian too well, mate."

His blue eyes widened with surprise. "You know the language of my country?"

She shrugged before she reloaded her assault rifle. "Kind of. I know bits and pieces of several different languages, but I speak it better than I understand it when it's spoken to me."

Nikolai laughed softly. He wasn't used to other, English speaking, people to take the time to learn his language, or any other language for that matter. "I am calling you, 'little blue'."

She stared at him for a few moments before raising her hand in exasperation. "Is that just my universal nickname now? 'Blue'?"

His brows furrowed. "You do not like it?"

She sighed and waved her hand. "No, it's fine, but just..." She made a slight face. "I'm not  _that_  little. Okay, compared to you I am, you're like almost two heads taller, but that's besides the point."

Richtofen turned the panel once more before turning to look at the young woman. " _Ja_ , your size is another thing that confuses me. You seem rather short for your age."

She set her hand on her hip. "Just how old do you think I am, then, mate?"

The doctor slung his rifle over his shoulder. "I am willing to guess perhaps thirty? If not, then somewhere in your late twenties."

Vivian's eyes widened and she almost glared at the man and he backed away slightly. Was he really that far off?

"I'm only twenty-three..."

This time  _his_  eyes widened and even Nikolai looked surprised at her statement. "I am still confused about your size..."

" _What size_?!" She exclaimed.

The doctor crossed his arms across his chest and stroked his chin thoughtfully. "If you speak true of your age, then your height is only somewhat average. However, your figure is... very prominent compared to most women your age."

She scoffed and snorted. "Like you've seen enough women to compare me t-" She then shook her head. "Wait, wait, what do you mean 'my figure is very prominent'?!"

At that moment, she didn't care if a horde of Zombies was coming their way (and they weren't, because they heard no screams or roars from them), what she cared about was what Richtofen was getting at. She wasn't too comfortable with her figure; she wasn't obese but she had a pot belly and some leg and arm fat, enough to make her not as appealing to men or women (in her opinion), but she still wanted to know what he was meaning.

"You have a frame that most women desire to have," he stated simply, now going into his 'doctor mode'. "You have an almost flawless hourglass figure, an average waist size, not to thick or thin. You have excellent upper and lower body muscles, although they need a bit of work. You have very well-defined hips and plump breasts, something that women your age would rather have. In short, you have excellent body stature and frame, which is very appealing to most men."

Vivian felt a blush creeping into her cheeks and just knowing the fact that she was blushing made her blush harder. He was a doctor and was mature about it, of course, but that still didn't help her case. She looked to Nikolai, who seemed to be looking at a suddenly interesting brick. "Does he do this to you guys too?"

He just shrugged.

She looked back to Richtofen, who was as stoic as ever. She then looked down at her feet and shuffled them, rolling her foot over a stone. "Look, in the time I live in... people would say you're wrong. I'm not attractive."

She kept her eyes to the floor and kicked at the stone, now shuffling her feet uncomfortably. Richtofen studied the young woman for a moment. She was young, but she shouldn't be so sensitive about her figure at this age. She was obviously uncomfortable with the topic, but she also wasn't used to compliments on her appearance, which is strange, as most would accept the compliments when given. Perhaps he should ask her about her dimension's culture.

They all heard more screams and Vivian's head shot up. "Okay, we need to move!"

Another time, then, he thought.

/ / /

It was almost too easy, getting the Staff, but then again he did have a kick-ass partner with him!

Several rounds had passed and the groups had all passed each other at least more than once and whatever parts they needed, were either traded or given (depending on who had what). Despite that they had made some good progress (well, they had found almost every single piece,) they still had a tough time finding the last piece of the fire staff. So, they decided to explore around the areas that they had gone to to look for the pieces of the staff again, just in case they missed something. They were checking around Generator Six again and if they didn't find anything, they would head back to No Man's Land.

Takeo seemed almost excited to get the Fire Staff, which was almost funny considering he looked like a kid on his birthday, although Scott could tell he was trying to hid his excitement as best as he could.

He was a silent type, but he was pretty chill as well. He seemed to warm up to him a lot better than he warmed up to Vivian (well, he really didn't warm up to her at all), but maybe that was because he was a guy? He really didn't know, but either way, it was cool that such an awesome guy was actually becoming acquainted with him!

They were picking off the last of the zombies around them when Takeo suddenly asked, "Are you being honest?"

Scott kicked at a zombie and then shot it in its head, killing it instantly. "Huh?"

The Japanese soldier sliced off a zombie's head. "You are strange people. You talk and act strange. I am wondering if you are honest."

Scott heard some stomping somewhere in the distance, but he just assumed it was one of the giant robots. "Why wouldn't we be? I mean, it'd be kinda stupid not to be honest." He raised his eyebrows in an almost snooty manner. "How do we know if  _you're_  being honest?"

Takeo turned to face the younger man, his face like a stone golem. "We are soldiers, fighting for our countries. And you, you act like  _children_  when danger strikes!"

He glared at him, his free hand clenching into a fist. Now he could see where Vivian was coming from with Tank. "We aren't kids, and we don't act like kids! We're people who know how to have fun! Sure, we're being nearly eaten alive by the dead, but we need a bit of laughter every so often or we'll be too caught up in the doom and gloom of things. We're young at heart, and we know when we need to be serious, but don't snuff us for laughing and playing around."

Takeo opened his mouth to say something, until a blaring siren sounded around them. Upon hearing it, they both knew what was wrong.

Takeo sheathed his blade and shouted, " _Run_!"

Scott didn't need to be told twice.

/ / /

Vivian paced around slightly, now nervous and anxious. Where was everyone else? They were supposed to meet back at the Excavation Site once business was taken care of, and it shouldn't have been taking so long to get their jobs done.

Of course there were still Zombies roaming around (well, crawling around), so they shouldn't be getting swarmed. Unless they messed something up and made a few more zombies spawn, but that was kind of stupid.

"You pace like tiger in cage, Vivian." Nikolai told her, slowly leading a crawling zombie away from them. "You worry too much."

She shook her head. "No, no, something isn't right. They're  _both_  not back and they should be! Did they get downed?"

Richtofen shook his head. " _Nein_ , we would sense if they were."

Bullets could be heard firing over by the Church and then there was the distant sound of screams and shouts. Something wasn't right at all!

Daren could be heard shouting at the top of his lungs, " _Panzer Dicks_!"

Then Scott could be heard shouting the same name, most likely out of fear rather than warning.

Her eyes widened with fear and shock; why were they out and about already?!

Richtofen made a slight face. " _Was_?"

"Panzer Soldat!" Vivian snapped, running over to where Daren and Tank were located at the church. "You guys help Scotty and Takeo, I'll go help Tank and Daren!"

Nikolai (who had much longer legs than she did) was quick to run to her and grab her shirt to pull her back. "Not smart,  _malen'kiy siniy_."

She shook him off her shoulder and glared menacingly at him. "Don't 'little blue' me! We could hardly handle one Panzer, but  _two_?! That's asking for a miracle and a half!"

Nikolai patted her shoulder. "I will go to Dempsey and Daren. You and Richtofen can help Takeo and Scott!"

Before she could argue, Nikolai took off down the trenches without another word, readying his guns as he went. She quickly called out to him, "Be sure to shoot it's head or else it'll never go down!"

A few moments passed before Richtofen put a hand on her shoulder and shook it slightly. "Let's go, Vivian!"

/ / /

Everything had been going just fine, surprisingly. They had gotten all the Generators running and aside from going through a couple waves of zombies, everything was pretty calm and simple compared to when it was just the three of them playing. Now they had seven people, and they're getting things done a lot quicker compared to if there was only three or four people.

The catch was, he was dealing with someone who was a jerk.

He thought Tank was absolutely awesome and badass, but the crappy part was that he was American. An American in the 1900's. Who obviously didn't like Canadians. Or people, it seemed.

They had been (technically) charged with finding pieces of the Ice and Wind staff. They had gotten the gems right away (as they planned to do beforehand, as it would make more sense to have the crystal right away). Whenever it snowed, Daren would make sure they were digging up bone piles like maniacs and if one of the giant robots made their way to them, Daren would always make sure to check if one of their feet were glowing.

So far, they had two of the pieces for the Ice Staff and one of the pieces for the Wind Staff, and they had almost no pieces of Tank's patience.

The snow had stopped so they stopped digging up the skull piles, but they still had a few Zombies to deal with.

Tank stomped on the head of a crawling zombie and the undead creature died without making a sound (aside from the crunching skull, of course). Daren could tell he was tense, but he still needed to know if they were cool or not. "So... what's your damage?"

He pulled his foot from out of the zombie's skull. "What?"

Daren shrugged. "What's your damage? Like, you don't seem to like me much. Or Scott or Vee. So, what's your deal? Is it because we're Canadian?"

Tank chuckled low and turned to the younger man. "Being a bunch of Canucks is fine. But I just don't trust you."

Daren furrowed his brows and raised his free hand slightly. "What did we do? We've been doing nothing but help you guys!"

Although that was true, as they had gotten them much farther than when just the four of them were trying to make it out of this hellhole, he still had some issues. "So? How do we know you're not going to stab our backs once you get the chance?"

"Because, supposedly, unlike you guys we have some morals!" He snapped. "Look, where we come from, trust is a hard thing to earn and we get that. But we're good people and we never try to hurt anyone unless they really ask for it. Even then we wouldn't hurt them. Besides, we aren't like that anyways; destroying trust or betraying people."

He shook his head. "I don't care much about where you come from," he stated. "Everything here is different; it's do or die, and I'd rather wake up with my guts intact!"

"And you won't if you don't learn to fucking trust us!" Daren shouted. "Without us, you guys would probably be all the way back to the first wave of zombies! And you know what, we could've left you all in the dirt and left you to die, but we aren't doing that, now are we?!"

Tank's face hardened and his hands tightened into fists. Daren shied away, at first, but then he stood his ground. "You know it's true, though..."

A sudden blaring sound could be heard and they both looked around the church. The earth below them shook and the blaring got louder and louder. And then they saw it.

Daren immediately grabbed his gun and began to open fire on the Panzer, screaming at it (in the most manly way, of course). One thing that came to mind when he fired at it was that he needed to warn everyone else that they had a big problem on their hands.

So, he did it in the best way he knew how to.

Taking in a deep breath, he shouted as loud as he could, " _Panzer Dicks_!"

Not even a few seconds later he heard Scott shouting the same thing all the way over by the sixth Generator. Why was there two?!

He ducked underneath the Panzer's arm and shot at it but then quickly remembered to preserve his bullets. They were basically immune to body shots and head shots was the only way to kill it. If they had the ray gun, or the Death Machine, then they'd be able to take it down a lot easier, but that wasn't the case.

Since they had Zombies crawling, they should be fine as far as 'distractions' went.

Tank continued to fire at the Panzer, shooting its body rather than its head. "What the fuck are you doing?!" He shouted at the American soldier.

"Trying to kill it, kid!" He shouted back.

"Don't! Well, don't shoot the body, shoot the head!"

His distraction costed him as the Panzer swiped at him once again, nailing him in his head. He should've been knocked out at that rate, but all he did was groan in pain and roll to his side in the mud.

Tank started to open fire on the mechanical zombie, not caring that most of his bullets were hitting the body rather than the head. The Panzer let out a blaring roar and made a running start for the American soldier and he attempted to back away, but was met with a corner.

Then he was met with an empty gun.

The Panzer roared once more and Tank tucked himself into a ball. If this thing was going to hit him, at least most of his vital body parts would be covered. As the footsteps neared he cringed and gritted his teeth, waiting for  _something_ ; a punch to his back, his head, anything!

But all that he heard was another roar, but it sounded more human.

The heavy footsteps were drawn away from him and Tank dared to look.

He saw the Russian firing at the Panzer, drawing it away from him and the kid. "Grab him, comrade!" He shouted, slowly backing away from the massive creature. Tank quickly uncurled himself and made a break for Daren, grabbing a needle from his pocket and injecting it into the younger man's leg.

Daren felt the pin-prick but once there, he then felt nothing. Well, he still had his sense of touch, but aside from a dull thump in his head, he felt no pain. Tank grabbed his hand and aided him up. "Close call!" He said.

Daren nodded. "No shit..."

/ / /

Aside from when Dempsey had practically dragged her across the trenches, Vivian had never run so fast in her life! She was running even faster than Richtofen (either that or he was just tired and running somewhat slower). Normally when she was playing the game with just her friends, she would get there as quickly as the game mechanics would, but this was different. This was real.

And her legs felt like they were on fire. In both a good way an a bad way.

Of course, because she was more focused on getting to Scott and Takeo, she wasn't really paying much attention to her surroundings, even if it was right in front of her.

And that included people.

Takeo had run directly past her but she ran directly into Scott. Because of the speed in which they were both running, the impact caused them to hang in the air for the briefest of moments before falling flat onto their backs onto the muddy ground. Vivian groaned and held her stomach while Scott was a lot more quick to recover from the fall. "Unless you wanna get wrecked, you should get up!" He told her.

Vivian looked up to see the Panzer Soldat making their way towards them. Scrambling to get up onto her feet, she quickly cocked her rifle and opened fire onto the machine, the bullets hitting the glass and metal with small  _pings_. The Panzer let out a mighty roar before charging right at her.

"Shit!" She cursed, quickly taking off to where the other three men had run. If they got it out into the open a bit more, it would be a lot easier to handle it. As long as Daren, Nikolai and Tank didn't end up bringing the second Panzer to No Man's Land, of course. If they did that, they might have trouble keeping the two robotic zombies contained.

Once they got into No Man's Land, next to the Excavation Site, all four of them waited for the creature to come into range, making sure their weapons were ready. "Don't let it grab you with the claw hand!" Scott informed them. "If it does, you're fucked!"

Once the Panzer rounded the corner, everyone instantly shot at the creature, most of the bullets hitting its head. It should go down pretty quickly, right? Four people shooting all at once, it should be simple.

Apparently not, as the Panzer let out an enraged roar and barreled straight for them, putting its shoulder forward. Vivians' eyes widened and she released the trigger. " _Scatter_!"

As far as she could tell, everyone managed to get out of the way before the Panzer shoulder-charged into them. Then again, she had a face full of mud and she could only really hear out of one ear (no thanks to Dempsey), so she couldn't tell the difference. All she cared about in that moment was survival and so she scrambled to get back up, reloading her MP-40 before whipping around.

Richtofen could be seen laying in the mud with the Panzer standing over him. Looks like one of them was down and out!

Vivian suddenly felt a pang in her head and her heart and she winced, shaking her head from the sudden stab of pain. She looked up and her eyes widened.

So  _that's_  what Richtofen meant...

"Tank and Nikolai are down!" She shouted.

Scott stopped firing at the Panzer. " _What_?!"

"Tank and Nikki are down!" She repeated.

The Panzer took a swing at him and he ducked and rolled, Takeo quickly covering for the younger man to lead it away. "What about Daren?!"

"He's still up!"

A few short moments later Daren could be seen running up the ramp, nearly skidding and falling in the mud. Didn't he revive Tank or Nikolai?

He ran right past Vivian at to the sign with the MP-40, reloading on his ammunition. "Didn't you pick them up?"

He turned around. " _You_  try reviving two people when you got a big-ass robot zombie trying to gut you!"

The Panzer roared as it came up the ramp and Vivian shot a deathly glare at Daren. " _You lead it here_?!" She barked.

Daren looked almost incredulous at her statement. " _Where else was I supposed to fucking go_!?"

" _Anywhere but here_!"

"Guys!"

They both looked to see Scott running at them, his face riddled with fear and concern. "Takeo is down, I can't get to him!"

Vivian looked at Scott, then to Daren, then to the Panzer standing over Takeo, then to the Panzer that had followed Daren. Another live or die moment, she thought. With a roll of her eyes and a puff of her breath, she cocked her gun. "Well, let's do what we do best;  _kick ass_!"

Before the Panzers could really zero in on them, they quickly formulated a plan.

"Daren, you gotta stick with me; I trust you more to back me up." She looked to Scott. "And I trust you more to revive whoever you can quicker than either of us."

Scott nodded. "I'll try getting Richtofen or Takeo if I can!"

Both of the Panzers roared and they immediately scattered, trying to confuse at least one of them. If they were going to get an upper hand in this, they needed to make sure that Scott had enough time to revive Takeo or Richtofen so they had some extra bullets.

Generally, two of them focused on one Panzer, but they would shout at each other if they were about to get overwhelmed or get downed by one of them. The Panzer that was attacking Takeo and Scott had gone down after they unloaded a couple more clips into it, providing ample time for Scott to go and revive Takeo or Richtofen.

However, once he got to Richtofen, the German didn't seem to want to move. Scott shook him slightly. "You alright?"

The German didn't respond and he shook him again. "Hey, get up!"

When he still didn't respond, Scott placed his hand against his pulse on his neck. There was nothing. His blood ran cold. "Guys, Richtofen's dead!"

Vivian looked over his shoulder. "Check his pulse!"

"I did!" He snapped.

Vivian checked to make sure Daren wasn't about to get hit and then she quickly ran over to where Richtofen lied, swinging her gun over her shoulder and kneeling down as Scott went to check on Takeo. "Eddie? This isn't time for a snooze!" She check his pulse herself and then she placed her head against his chest, listening for a heartbeat. There wasn't a single thing, not a single beat. Nothing.

"Takeo is gone too!"

Daren shouted at the top of his lungs, "Guys, I'm gonna get fucked if you two don't help me!"

Vivian quickly grabbed Richtofen under his arms and dragged him to safety, setting him carefully next to the stairs leading to the top of the Excavation Digging site. Satisfied that he was out of the way, she quickly reloaded her weapon and ran to help Daren along with Scott.

Scott shot the back of its head, making it turn around and growl. "Over here, Panzer Dick!" He shouted at it, shooting it a few times in its head.

The Panzer went to run at him but was hit in the head with a block of wood, making it turn around to see Vivian. "Why not me? I should be easy!"

The Panzer made a running start towards her and she grabbed at a grenade on her belt (she had bought some a while ago, thinking she might eventually need them; of course she never really knew how to use them so she gave most of them to Nikolai). However, the grenadde she was grabbing refused to come off easy. With a low growl, she pulled at it as hard as she could and she heard a small  _cling_. She looked for the ring to pull on but seeing that there was none, she realized that it had already been pulled off when she took it off her belt. " _That's_  how it works!"

She quickly threw the grenade, with almost amazing precision, and it hit the Panzer in the head. It roared with an unholy rage and once the smoke cleared, they all saw how damaged the glass was. Seeing that it was now at its weakest, she cried, " _Unleash hell_!" As she began spraying the Panzer with as many bullets as she could and Daren and Scott both followed suit, trying their best to shoot its head.

The mechanical zombie now was purely confused and outraged, too angry to actually focus on one of the humans, swinging its arms wildly to try and hit the bullets away.

Vivians' gun clicked a few times and she shook it angrily, checking her pouch for extra magazines, only to find an empty pocket. She then went to grab a grenade, only to find she had none. Now frustrated and fueled by adrenaline, Vivian made a running start at the machine, only barely hearing Daren shout at her, " _What are you doing_?!"

With an enraged shout, Vivian used the corpse of a zombie to take a leap at the Panzer Soldat and bashed her gun into the glass, making it instantly shatter. The Panzer let out a weak roar before toppling backward, its' head exploding with electricity before the light in it died, signifying its defeat.

Vivian breathed heavily, hoarsely, before letting go of the gun and stepping away from the dead machine, her arms quivering from the adrenaline. Scott and Daren were quick to run to her side. "Dude, that was awesome! Daren exclaimed.

Scott patted her back. "That was pretty sweet! How'd you do that?"

She could only shake her head and shrug her shoulders, now completely out of breath.

"I got the last piece of the Fire Staff," said Scott. "So at least we got something out of this."

A rolling of thunder was heard and then Samantha's creepy giggle followed, making all of them cringe. " _Goodnight_..." She said in a sing-song voice.

"The fuck does she mean by that?" Daren asked.

"It means she is done for the day." Richtofen said, rolling his shoulders and wincing slightly.

Vivian gasped. "You're alive!" She exclaimed.

He laughed, then. "We all are,  _fraulein_. We do not die permanently here, or Samantha would become bored too easily."

Vivian laughed, albeit breathlessly, before she suddenly collapsed, her legs suddenly ceasing to function properly as they gave out under her. At first Scott and Daren laughed, but she became panicked. "No, guys, I seriously can't feel my legs! I can't move them!"

Richtofen knelt down beside her. "You are in shock, and the adrenaline rush is gone. You overdid it on running, Vivian."

Scott was suddenly smacked on the shoulder and he jumped, looking around to see that Tank was standing beside him. "You all did pretty good for a bunch of Canadians."

" _Da_ ," Nikolai agreed. "Very good."

Daren became confused. "How were you able to see us if you were dead?"

"We should move to safety first," Takeo said. "Before we explain."

Richtofen nodded. "Good idea."

When he put his arms underneath Vivian she couldn't help but laugh. "Good luck lifting me, eh? I weigh, like, two-hund- WOAH!"

The German scientist picked up the young woman with ease, smiling cheekily. She held tight to him and she shrugged. "Forget I said anything..."

/ / /

They were moved into a bunker that was separate from the rest, one that had no windows or cracked walls. It even had a fire pit set underneath a hole in the roof to let the smoke out, some clean clothes, and some mattresses with thin blankets (or, really, futons; they were barely mattresses) and food and water! Most likely their safe area for the evenings.

Richtofen kicked at a mattress, pushing it up against the wall, before setting Vivian down onto it, setting her back carefully against the stone wall. She snorted, but nodded in appreciation. "Thanks, mate."

He nodded in return and he quickly grabbed a canteen of water off the shelf, screwing off the cap and handing it to her. She drank from it heavily, her throat and lungs still burning. Only after nearly drinking the whole thing did she take a moment to breathe, once again nodding her thanks.

Everyone suddenly went about their business, taking off their heavy pieces of armor or their coats, putting away their guns and drinking some water before sitting down at their own mattresses. By the time everyone had settled down, it was already starting to get dark and Nikolai quickly got a fire going using a knife and a stone, stoking at it with a stick before sitting back on his own mattress.

Richtofen moved a mattress next to Vivian and he set himself beside her. He cleaned his hands quickly with water and alcohol before he suddenly started inspecting her face, brushing at it gently with his fingers. "What are you doing?"

"Checking for glass." He stated simply, pushing at her chin slightly to turn her face. "You were very close to it, Vivian."

"Oh, speaking of which," Scott said, "How did you guys see what we were doing?"

"When our spirits leave," Takeo started to explain. "We can see through the eyes of those who's souls still live within their bodies. We see what they see."

"And we saw what you were all trying to do." Tank continued, taking a deep swig of his water. "You all tried your best to help us or to revive us. And then we saw how well you handled yourselves. You did well."

Nikolai laughed heartily. "'Did well'?! They fought like true soldiers! And Vivian," he addressed her, "You fought like bear! Like  _nemnogo mishka_!" He laughed again and she almost glared but she broke into a fit of laughter as well.

"'Little bear'?" She giggled. "I am not that small!"

"Hold still!" Richtofen gently chided her, his fingers brushing at her cheeks and then her forehead. She rolled her eyes but complied.

Takeo sighed quietly. "You all fought like warriors," he bowed his head, "And I am deeply sorry for ever thinking you could not be trusted."

Tank sighed as well, although more heavily than Takeo had. "Yeah... sorry."

Daren shrugged his shoulders. "Nah, it's alright. Like, we get it, you were kind of cautious about us. As long as you don't shoot us in our sleep, we're all on good terms."

They all laughed quietly.

Richtofen carefully moved his fingers over her eyelids, down her cheeks once more, and then his thumb ghosted over her lips, to which she blushed slightly. Would there really be glass there?

Now satisfied, the doctor leaned back and nodded. "No glass." he stated.

He dipped a knife in alcohol and then the water before cutting into a can of beans, then handing it to Vivian along with a spoon. She took the items and then smiled before patting his cheek. "You're a prince."

" _Nein_ , I'm a doctor and scientist."

Daren laughed. "They're not going to get anything you say!" He told her.

" _Shut up_!" She snapped. "I'm Canadian, I can say anything I want even if nobody gets it."

Daren and Scott both chuckled and she laughed along with them before digging into her food. Although it was cold and rather plain, it still hit the spot after a long day of shooting zombies and killing Panzers.

/ / /

Everyone was fast asleep, but sleep was something that was not forthcoming to her. She had always been an insomniac, never really being able to sleep properly.

She wiggled on her mattress, now finally being able to feel all the way up to her knees. She really  _had_  overdone it with the running. The fire had died down to smoldering coals, leaving a small glow in the room. Well, then there was moonlight that shone through the holes in the ceiling.

"Unable to sleep,  _fraulein_?"

Vivian sighed and moved the blanket that was over her legs. "Yeah. I've always been an insomniac."

Richtofen sat up and moved so he was closer to her, so he wouldn't have to speak so loudly. He didn't want anyone else waking up. "Well, since we are both awake, I wish to ask you something."

"Mhmm?"

"You had said that, where you come from, people would say I'm wrong about your physical appearance. What is your culture like in your dimension?"

She shifted almost uncomfortably in her spot on the mattress. "Well, we live in the year of 2018, a whole century later. And... life is shit. Racism is everywhere, war is everywhere, and people are picky about appearances."

"Ah..."

She turned to face him, sorrow and anger on her face. "Where we all come from, my physical shape an appearance?" She shook her head. "I'm not that pretty. Not that I really try to be like the other girls, but even if I dress up and put on makeup, I'm still not conventionally attractive. I'm not thin like most girls, which is the shape that is most appealing to men and sometimes women as well. I also have a bit of a baby face, thanks to the gift of high cheek bones due to my Native heritage." She shrugged then, almost flippantly. "I'm not attractive, simple as that."

"But you are," He corrected her. "Most women desire to have a shapely body such as yours. You keep saying you are not beautiful, when really it's quite the contrary."

She raised an eyebrow at him and crossed her arms. "Are you coming onto me, Edward?"

" _Was_?"

"Are you flirting with me?"

He shook his head. " _Nein_ , I am merely speaking the truth, Vivian."

She blushed and she turned her head away from him. "Well... thanks, mate." She moved so she was laying on the mattress, pulling the sheet over her neck. "I'm going to try and sleep, now."

She was avoiding the conversation now, he could tell, but he decided to let it slide. After all, they had not known each other for long, so he did not want to be too intrusive. He lied back down on his own mattress, placing his hands on his stomach and closing his eyes. Perhaps tomorrow he could ask a few more questions. After all of the undead were dealt with, of course.


	4. Trials

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A great many mistakes are made and trials are faced as our heroes attempt to open Agartha.

Vivian felt someone shaking her shoulder and she groaned, gathering up the sheet and bringing it up to her neck as she curled into a ball. Whoever was bothering her could bugger off.

"Do you want Zombies eating your brains?"

She nuzzled into the mattress. "Mm... don't got any..."

Daren then poked at her back with a stick, constantly, trying to annoy her enough to wake her up. "You gotta get changed and eat or you're gonna be grumpy. We don't want a grumpy bea-"

Vivian suddenly whipped around and, grabbing the stick, yanked it out from his hands and threw it at him, hitting him square in his knees. He let out a short yelp of pain and Vivian sat up from on her mattress, rubbing at her eyes and letting out a giant yawn.

Daren rubbed at his knee and glared. "Dude, that actually hurt."

She looked at him with narrowed eyes. "I's supposed to." She slurred, yawning once more. "Don't poke the bear when she's sleeping..."

"The  _nemnogo mishka_."

Vivian looked over to Nikolai, who now had a goofy and mischievous grin on his face. She pointed a finger at him. "I ain't that little."

"Well, while you're awake," Tank threw a clean shirt at her. "Get changed. Then you can eat."

Vivian looked down at herself to see that she had, indeed, fallen asleep in her muddy shirt and pants. She then looked at the shirt he had thrown to her; plain black, but it was far too big for her. Most likely because all of the other members of the group were men. Back home, she could easily fit into a size Small in men's shirts, and if she had a Medium it would be somewhat big on her but she would still wear it. This looked like a large shirt though, something she knew wouldn't fit too well on her.

She'd still have to wear it though.

With a pained groan, Vivian managed to get up onto her feet, now being able to feel her whole legs. The muscles throbbed and twitched with pain, most likely still sore from the previous days' activities. "Where can I change?" She asked.

Tank looked at her, then he looked to Richtofen, who only shrugged. They never really thought of a spot for people to change, mainly because they were all men. She was the only woman in the group so it made sense why she'd want privacy to change her shirt. Tank looked around and then gestured to a closed door. "We have the storage room."

She nodded and slowly made her way over to it, wincing at the pain in her legs. She hoped that she didn't have to do quite as much running, because if she did, she was screwed.

She opened the wooden door and then closed it behind her. It wasn't too small so she had plenty of room to move and the hole in the roof provided enough light for her to see.

She removed her muddy Star Wars shirt and tossed it onto the shelf. Her tank top was only slightly muddy so she kept it on. She then slipped the shirt over her head and found that it came to past her hips. It was also really baggy. It covered her chest well, at least, and it only slightly hung off her shoulder.

Maybe she could spice up the look a little bit.

She opened the door slightly and peeked around it. "Does anybody have a spare belt or something? Men always have belts."

Richtofen was quick to throw her a harness and she nodded her thanks before closing the door again. It looked like a mix of a cross-chest strap and a waist belt, but it would definitely do the job.

She put the harness over her head and the one strap went across her chest and the belt part hugged her hips. Grabbing at the loose straps, she tightened the harness so it hugged her waist and her chest tightly, not tight enough to strangle her but enough so it wouldn't slip. This kept the shirt from being too baggy and getting in the way, which was great!

Now she was ready to face the day!

She opened the door and stepped out, pulling down at the hem of her shirt. "As soon as I eat, I'm ready to kick some ass!"

Scott snorted. "Well, good. Because we got some major big ass to kick!"

Vivian cracked her neck. "Bring it on!"

/ / /

" _I am so not ready for this_!"

Vivian barely managed to jump out of the way before Odin stomped his foot down, dirt and mud kicking up from the impact (and nearly covering her in it in the process). That was, what, the fifth time that she nearly got smushed by the giant robot and there was nothing to show for it.

Two groups were working together to find the last two pieces of the Wind staff; Vivian being partnered with Nikolai and Daren being partnered with Takeo. She and Nikolai were still trying to find their piece while Daren and Takeo had found it within a few attempts, so they went around trying to help the others as best as they could, mainly keeping the zombies off of everyone. Richtofen was working on getting the Maxis Drone going and Scott was working with Tank to get the Lightning Staff pieces and having it put together. They had managed to finish the Fire and Ice staff with ease, as well as getting them upgraded. They also had filled up the soul boxes; all of them. All that they needed was the wind staff and then they needed to collect more souls down in the Crazy Place in order to open up Argatha. Which was gonna be one hell of a ride!

Nikolai laughed at the young woman and she couldn't help but laugh alone with him. "What happened to you being ready to kick ass?"

She got up from the muddy ground and brushed herself off as best as she could. "Well, I meant zombie ass; not the ass of a giant robot!"

He shot at a zombie that was running at him with his shotgun, blood spraying from the impact of the shells. Vivian checked her own weapons and saw that, not only was she running low on ammo, but she needed a better gun. The MP-40 and the ICR-1 could only do so much for her (even though her ICR was Pack-a-Punched). "Can we maybe take a break?" She asked. "I want to make another go at the box."

He nodded in agreement. " _Da_ , let's do that."

They quickly made their way to their starting point to Generator 1, where the box ended up after she got the Teddy Bear (which she  _still_  thinks is creepy). Daren was also there, his arms crossed and fingers tapping against his arm. The weapons slowed and settled on the Drakon and he raised his arms in the air. " _Finally_!" He shouted before taking the weapon, checking over it before cocking it.

Vivian chuckled. "How long have you been waiting for that thing?"

He aimed down the sights. "A while." He said.

Vivian rolled her eyes and approached the box. "Well, I'm glad you're happy, mate!"

She tapped two of her fingers on the lid of the box, making it open as the music box tune played. She cracked her knuckles. "Gimme fuel, gimme fire, gimme that which I desire..." She said.

The guns slowed in their cycle and landed on the Argus.

She gasped heavily and immediately took it, trading her MP-40. The gun immediately became Pack-a-Punched and she smiled. "Oh, my beautiful baby..." She purred.

Daren continued to check his gun. "I don't see how you like that thing; it sucks!"

Vivian aimed down the sights and she grinned. "Says you."

She fired a practice shot.

She was unused to the kick that shotguns had, as she had never fired on before. She was more used to the constant kick of an automatic rifle. So, as a result, the shotgun went flying out of her hands over her shoulder and she looked back in time to see Daren holding one hand over his family jewels and he groaned loudly, slowly sinking to the floor.

Vivian snorted and laughed. "Well, shit, with that kind of aim I'll never hit a zombie!"

Nikolai gave the young woman a look. "Make sure nobody stands behind you, next time."

"No... shit..." Daren groaned.

Vivian turned around and knelt down to pick up the shotgun, patting her friend on his shoulder. "Sorry, mate. You alright?"

"No..." He groaned. He then tried to stand up, his legs somewhat crossed over as the pain was still fresh between them. Vivian just rolled her eyes. This wasn't the first time she had managed to hit his balls; and each time being an accident. Most of the incidents happened at school when they were being idiots, and he recovered every time it happened. He'd be fine.

Probably.

Vivian went over to the Gobblegum machine and tapped a button. The various Gobblegums spun before the lion head presented an orange gum to her. "Perkaholic, let's do it!" She took the Gum and popped it into her mouth, chewing a few times before blowing a bubble. The instant it popped, it disintegrated in her mouth. It was strange how the Gobblegum worked, but it, well, worked. She then tapped the button once more and the lion presented a purple gum to her. "Cache back..." she muttered. She then shrugged and took it, popping it in her mouth and chewing it. "Could come in handy." She said.

Nikolai and Daren approached her. "Ready to go back to work?" Nikolai asked, to which she shrugged.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

"I can help keep zombies off you!" Daren quickly stated.

"You just want to use your sniper."

"Maybe."

"Fine, but if you get down, don't blame us!"

/ / /

Nikolai and Vivian did their best to keep the zombies at bay as they followed Odin. This had been taking almost too long, which was strange. There had been enough of a time gap that everyone else already had their staffs made and upgraded, as well as the last few tidbits such as the Drone, and they  _still_  hadn't found the last piece of the Wind Staff.

The three of them had been trading off on checking for the foot. Everyone else had also managed too get the staffs in the Crazy Place and kill enough zombies to get Pack-a-Punched weapons for the final battle they would have to face. Of course, at this rate they may not get to it that day. Which would really annoy her because they had been working hard and got so much done.

Nikolai slowly made his way towards her, firing at the zombies with the Dingo. For a few moments everything went quiet, symbolizing the passing of rounds and they quickly checked over their guns and ammunition. Chewing her Gobblegum, Vivian popped a bubble and immediately spawned a Max Ammo power up and the gum disintegrated in her mouth. She touched the power up with her finger and the item disappeared, the ghostly voice saying, 'max ammo'. Everyone's ammunition got restocked.

Nikolai cleared his throat. "There is something I want to ask you,  _nemnogo mishka_."

She raised an eyebrow. "Ay?"

"You and your friends," He gestured to Daren, who was moving away from the incoming foot. "Daren and Scotty. You are... close,  _da_?"

She shrugged and then nodded. "Yeah. We've all been friends since high school. Been there for each other right from the start."

Nikolai seemed to hesitate and Vivian could sense what he might be asking next. "Just friends?"

She  _tsked_  and sighed. "Yes, just friends. No, I'm not interested in women romantically, and no they are not interested in men. We are interested in the opposite sex but not in each other. We are all best friends, even family. Simple as that."

Nikolai raised his hands in mock surrender. "Sorry, I just-"

"It's fine." She sighed again and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "It's alright, mate. I just have gotten that more than once where people assume we're more than friends. It's understandable."

The roars and screams of zombies could be heard and they both readied their guns. It took a few times for Vivian to learn how to reload the Argus, but she was a quick study. "One thing's for sure, though; I am definitely not friends with these demon spawn!"

/ / /

All they heard was a cry and they turned around to see Nikolai holding the final piece of the Wind Staff. Daren and Vivian both nearly tackled the Russian, Daren punching his shoulder and she smacked his back. "Well done, mate!"

Nikolai smiled and he nodded. "Let's go to Crazy Place,  _da_?"

They both nodded and they all ran for No Man's Land, trying their best to pass by the various zombies. Vivian and Daren both made sure to stop by the Gobblegum Machine before heading over to the Excavation Site, where Takeo, Dempsey, Richtofen and Scott were all holding out. Corpses were piled everywhere and the blood of the damned flowed, mixing in with the mud and water.

Tank noticed the three running towards them. "About damn time you got here!"

Vivian glared. Before she could come up with a witty retort Daren quickly said, "Don't blame us, blame Odin!"

She patted her friend on his back. "You and Nikki go to the Crazy Place. Give us a signal and we'll come down when you're ready!"

Daren gave her a confused look. "Why not now?"

"Do you want zombies swarming all of us?"

"Good point."

The two men went down into the Crazy Place, leaving the rest of them to their own devices. They formed a semi-circle lineup; Scott and Richtofen stood in the back line, shooting down the zombies from out in the distance. Vivian, Tank and Takeo all knelt down in front of them, taking out the zombies who were at a close to mid-range. It was one of the most simple lineups, but it was effective as they could not be attacked from behind (as they were backed up against the stairs) and they were able to keep an eye on all angles.

Vivian pulled at a grenade on her belt and cooked it for two seconds before tossing it. Most zombies she managed to kill, but she created two crawlers. Once Daren and Nikolai were done, they would shoot them and move on to the final battle.

Well, that was the plan at least. Unless something went 'bump', of course.

Knock on wood.

As they continued to shoot the zombies, Vivian started humming a small tune to herself. Most would think her to be strange, considering the circumstances, but whenever she was doing something that was fairly consistent, she would often pass the time by singing or humming (or whistling, which wasn't the best idea due to the climate and the fact that it could be distracting to the others).

Her fingers also started tapping to the beat of the song she was humming (not her trigger finger, of course, or she'd end up firing wasted shots) and her one foot tapped to the beat.

As odd as it sounded, she felt a sense of calm whenever she was singing or humming. Even though the dead were hanging around them and death was always trying to push open the door or crawl in through the window, her humming brought a small sense of normalcy to her. She was still a person, even in a fucked up situation like this.

All seemed to die down and they realized that there were no more zombies to be seen. Vivian rolled her eyes. "Who killed the crawlers?"

A crack of thunder was heard and then Samantha's giggle came shortly after. ' _Goodnight_.'

" _Are you fucking kidding me_?!" Daren could be heard shouting in the Excavation Site. " _We just got this thing, man_!"

Vivian snorted and Scott laughed at their friend.

/ / /

"Remind me how you ended up with so many bruises and cuts?"

Vivian winced as he applied pressure to her arm, inspecting the various wounds she had gained from the day. "Blame Odin." She stated simply.

She hadn't realized the extent of her wounds and bruises and it wasn't until she removed her baggy shirt, leaving her in a tank-top, that Richtofen suddenly acted like she was dying.

Once she thought about it, however, it made sense. She had been knocked around more than once by the Zombies, fallen into the mud, hit hard things because she would often have to dive out of the way of Odin, nearly killed herself with a grenade, been underneath falling debris when she fell through a hole in the roof of a bunker and Odin stepped on it, and she also got one-shotted by a Panzer. Although when revived, the pain of the wounds went away, the marks left by them would stay.

It also wasn't until they got to the safety of the bunker that she started actually  _feeling_  the pain from her wounds.

Vivian hissed as Richtofen applied alcohol to the wounds, making them sting. "You should be more careful,  _kleine maus_ , or you could end up in worse shape."

She  _tsked_  and rolled her eyes. "Yes, mom." She clenched her fist as he applied more alcohol to a large cut on her forearm. "Y'know, for someone who cares about the health of those around him, you seem to be doting on me more than anyone else."

It was true. As soon as she had taken off her shirt, he was helping her instantaneously. She hadn't moved from her spot on her mattress since they had gotten into the bunker. Everyone else seemed to be doing alright, aside from a few bloodied cuts and a few bruises. Nikolai looked as if he had sprained his wrist, since he had a thick wrap around it. Tank was rolling his shoulder more than once, suggesting some muscle pain, Takeo was nursing his right arm, which had a huge bruise and a cut on it. Scott and Daren, aside from a few scrapes, seemed to be doing okay (which she really didn't understand  _how_ ). However, Richtofen didn't seem to care or notice.

The German scoffed and grabbed for a roll of bandages. "I am not  _doting_. Everyone here can take care of themselves. As for you, I am uncertain of your medical capabilities."

"Is it because I'm a girl?"

Everyone suddenly paused in what they were doing to look at the pair, almost as if they were expecting something to happen. Richtofen stared for a few short moments before answering. " _Nein_. The men here have seen me do enough work to know how to heal themselves." He unraveled the bandages. "I am unsure if you know the proper procedures to-"

Tank could be heard laughing before he said, "I think he's stuck on you, Blue."

Both the Canadian and the Doctor turned their heads to the American, shooting him a deathly glare. Vivian looked as if she was about ready to jump the man. "Excuse you?"

He just crossed his arms and shrugged his shoulders in a cheeky manner before a smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. "Y'know, he's getting all sweet on you."

Vivian, finally realizing what he meant, rolled her eyes and leaned back against the wall. "Oh,  _that's_  what you meant." She then shook her head. "Look, mate; Scott, Daren and I have been here for like, what, two days, almost three. I hardly call that enough time to even start to develop a boyish infatuation. So lay off."

Tank shrugged and decided to leave her be. For now.

Richtofen gently pulled at her arm and she lifted it so he could wrap the bandage around it. "How's the bandage gonna help with all the mud?

"They are water resistant," He replied, "Something I had created in my spare time."

"Ah."

He made sure to keep the bandage tight, but not enough to cut off the blood circulation in her arm. He didn't want the wound to become infected and for her to become sick and become exposed to the Virus that the Zombies had. As he tied off the bandage near her wrist, he saw some pale marks against her darker skin and he paused for a moment. What were those?

At first, she wasn't aware of what he was doing. But once he brushed his thumb over her forearm, she attempted to pull away, only to have him grasp tightly to her wrist, almost painfully so. Upon inspecting her wrist more closely, he could see that the pale marks were scars. His eyes caught hers and he almost glared. "What are these?"

"Scars, dumbass." She replied snappishly.

"What from?"

"Wired fence." She replied. "Back on my farm, my family and I had a puppy business. One of the puppies got caught under the wired fence of their pen and I had to help." She laughed, almost nervously. "Stupid me, I didn't think quite right and I ended up getting my arm caught under the fence and cutting it up."

Richtofen stared at her blankly and she couldn't tell if he believed her or not. Daren and Scott, who knew far better, both gave each other knowing and worried looks. She was particularly good when it came to lying, but there were some people who were a lot more perceptive than kids at school. More specifically, doctors-slash-scientists.

Vivian swallowed quietly when Richtofens' lips set into a slight frown. Yup, definitely not buying it, she thought.

He let go of her wrist. "It is a good thing you did not have any vital veins cut by the fence." He said.

"Yeah." She cringed as her voice cracked.

Putting the medical items away in a box, Richtofen moved onto his own mattress to tend to his own wounds. Nikolai then asked her, "You had puppy business, you say?"

She nodded and breathed a very quiet sigh of relief. "Yup!"

"What kind?"

"Pure Bred Border Collies." She replied.

Takeo now suddenly became interested in the conversation. "A smart and honorable breed. They are loyal and trusting."

Vivians' eyes widened in surprise. "You're familiar with the breed?"

The Japanese soldier nodded. "My family owned one. Very smart, very sharp-minded."

Tank raised an eyebrow. "Aren't they a working dog?"

"Yeah. Well, they can be used for herding, but they can also just be your loyal pet."

"What were puppies like?" Nikolai asked, his blue eyes lighting up with an almost child-like curiosity. "Fluffy? Floppy ears?"

She held back a snort and brushed back her blue hair (well, somewhat brown now no thanks to the drying mud). "Depends. Border Collie puppies, when they are newborns, are very short haired. Once they get older, you can tell if they are going to be short, medium or long haired. Most of the puppies we had were rarely short haired due to their mama being a long hair. Their ears cannot be guessed by genes. It's always a mystery if they'd be pointed or floppy." Vivian smiled to herself. "Then there was the faces. They were always very distinguished and some were round and others were pointed. Some were pure black or had white stripes."

"Did you have favourite puppy?" Nikolai asked her.

In an instant, her smile disappeared as her thoughts and memories traveled to this one single puppy. One that stood out from the others, one that would always stick with her. She stared into the fire, the flames reflecting in her now glassy eyes. "Yeah, actually..." She replied, forcing a half smile. "Her name was Buttons. She was as cute as a button, hence her name. She was my favourite because we had gone through a lot together. She had a rough start after a puppy from an older litter had played with her a little too roughly. Everyone, especially my mother, thought she was dead but I had faith."

Everyone seemed to lean forward, now fully enamored by her story. She didn't seem to notice, however, as her eyes continued to stare into the fire. "After a day, when my mom was taking me home from work, she said to me, 'You were right. She is alive', and I remember looking at her like she was crazy because she never, and I mean  _never_ , says that I'm right!"

This made everyone chuckle and she laughed along with them for a brief moment before continuing. "Anyways, she had said they brought her into the house so her last moments would be comfortable and that she knew she was loved, but I remember saying, 'she won't die', and when we got home I was in the house in like, five seconds. I was right by Buttons' side, comforting her and petting her. She was having seizures and she wouldn't eat even with a syringe to help her.

"I had made a promise to Buttons that evening," she said, "I had promised her that she wouldn't die, not as long as I was around. I stayed on the couch for two whole nights, comforting her when she cried and calming her when she had a seizure. I made sure to feed her often and I would hold her close to let her know there was another living thing there with her." Her face shifted to a more happier expression. "One day, she had started teething the syringe and I decided to get the bowl of milk. When I put it next to her, she started lapping it up right away. You would've thought I had resurrected someone with they way I was screaming, ' _Mom! She's eating by herself! She's eating by herself!_ '."

Everyone laughed, then, and a brighter smile came onto her face. "After a few days, she was finally up and walking, although she had some major counter-weight issues, constantly toppling over. She'd also run into things. However, she was very responsive to my voice and she would always run to the door when I got home from school and she'd want to sit on my lap when I was on the couch. She was a good puppy."

Richtofen tilted his head to the side. "What happened to her?"

Vivian opened her mouth to respond but was interrupted by Samantha's giggle. ' _Sleep well..._ '.

She suddenly looked horrified. "'Cus that wasn't creepy at all!"

Everyone else (aside from Scott and Daren) seemed to be put at ease. Tank breathed an audible sigh of relief. "Looks like the kid is giving us a break," He said.

Scott was visibly confused. "What do you mean?"

"Samantha is giving us time to rest," Richtofen explained to the younger man. "This can last for one or two days, depending on how hard the challenge ahead will be."

Daren shrugged and suddenly pulled the sheet over himself and lied on his mattress. "I'll take it." He muttered. "G'night."

" _Da_ , it is getting late." Nikolai let out a massive yawn before leaning back against the wall and closing his eyes (how he was able to sleep like that was beyond her, but she had some odd sleeping habits herself so she really couldn't talk).

Everyone else tucked themselves in while Vivian remained awake, once again, being unable to sleep. There was not too much to do, so all she could really do was watch the fire as it danced and crackled. Soon, the fire died down to small flames, then to hot red coals.

Only then was she able to close her eyes.

/ / /

It wasn't quite as busy as she thought it would be. In fact, everyone seemed fairly laid back. Takeo was sharpening his katana, Nikolai was carving into a piece of wood, Tank was cleaning and checking his weapons and Richtofen was reading a book (which she needed to ask where he got it from).

Daren and Scott were talking among themselves, mainly about sniping methods and the best spots to camp. Vivian was currently drawing in an old, blank notebook that Richtofen had found in the storage room.

When he had found that she enjoyed writing and drawing in her spare time, he had remembered seeing an old book along with a jar of ink and a calligraphy pen. Her eyes had brightened greatly when she saw the items being handed to her and she had started drawing right away. She was a woman of many talents, he thought. She also seemed to have a heart of gold, which normally would not bode well in settings such as this, but she was also tough. She could also understand and speak other languages (to an extent, of course), and now she could write and draw. What else could she do, he wondered.

Her two companions were also extremely talented, he noted, if not slightly dangerous. They could fire weapons like any regular solider, even though they claim they had never fired anything too extreme. He had also seen them when they worked together; very efficient and very fast work. Scott was an excellent strategist and Daren worked well in executing the strategies. Add those two with Vivian, who had the know-how and plans ready, and you had one hell of a trio.

They all complimented each other quite well. But he could only wonder just what else those three were capable of. Perhaps they were a lot more dangerous than he could think.

"Hey, Daren, Scott?"

The two young men looked over to their friend. "Yeah?" They said in unison.

"Y'know the Gobblegum machine, right?"

"Yeah."

She looked up from her book. "Well, since the lion head is the thing where the gum is dispensed, did you ever think that the glass ball is its' tummy? Like, basically it's puking up bubblegum and then you're eating it, or it pukes it up and then swallows it if you don't take it..."

They both instantly burst into laughter and she joined along with them and they all gasped for air as everyone continued to look at them like they were crazy. Tank just shook his head almost disapprovingly and then resumed in cleaning his guns.

Perhaps more of their skills would show with time, Richtofen thought.

/ / /

The day had gone by rather quickly, she thought. She had been drawing for most of it and it wasn't too long before it was evening once more. Everyone had already asleep hours ago and Vivian was struggling to even go to sleep. Perhaps a little walk or something, she thought. Not too far, however.

Getting up, she grabbed her boots and quickly put them on before she wandered towards the door, careful as to not trip over anybody in the process. As quietly as she could, she opened the door leading outside and stepped out, settling with just leaving a small crack in the doorway. She shivered at the chilly night air.

The moon shone full and bright in the sky and the stars glowed brightly, an almost a peaceful sight, aside from the planes firing at each other in the air. War never slept, she thought.

She heard shuffling behind her and looked to see Richtofen coming out from the bunker. She raised an eyebrow at him. "Shouldn't you be asleep?"

"Shouldn't you?"

She sighed and rolled her eyes, looking back up to the sky. Richtofen approached her and then stood beside her, also looking to the sky. "War is an ugly thing,  _ja_?"

"Hm?"

"War." He repeated, not taking his eyes off of the sky. "It can be such an ugly thing. No matter if you come out of it physically unscathed, there are always scars from the battles you've fought."

She paused for a moment before looking up at him. "Why do I get the feeling you're directing that at me?"

She was perceptive; mental note taken. "I am, in a sense." He looked to the woman and gestured to her arm. "I don't know the...  _personal_  wars you fought, but there was no need to put physical scars in place of the mental or emotional ones."

If looks could kill, he would've died  _slowly_  and  _painfully_. The glare she shot him sent shivers down his spine as her lips curled into a snarl. "That... is  _none_  of your business."

"So it  _wasn't_  a wired fence."

She mentally cursed herself. She needed to learn to be less defensive or one of these times it'd come back to bite her in the butt  _real_  good. "Look, mate, I don't get why you're so concerned. Or  _nosy_."

"Mental well-being is as important as physical well-being." He replied, almost cryptically. "If your state of mind gets in the way, it could spell out major consequences for a lot of people."

They stared each other down for a few moments, neither willing to back down. Her personal problems were always that; personal. Anyone who intruded or tried making things better would often get drop-kicked or leave her alone about certain situations. However, her problem with a blade had been long forgotten, and so she wished for others to forget as well. With a low growl, she shoved past Richtofen and went back into the bunker. "Leave me the fuck alone."

/ / /

"We're gonna fuck this up aren't we?"

Daren yelped loudly as Vivian smacked the back of his head. "Yeah, if you keep talking like that! Look, we just need enough souls to open up Agartha and we're good to go!"

They had had a stressful morning already. The original plan was to just head to the Crazy Place, open Agartha, and leave it at that. However, for whatever reason, lots of Panzers would continuously spawn, leaving each of them unable to enter the Crazy Place. Then, Scott ended up having to run things solo for an entire wave after Vivian had thrown a grenade and killed everyone in the area (which really wasn't her fault - a zombie stepped in front of her!). Then, Tank and Richtofen's arguments had nearly gotten them all killed, Daren got crushed by Freya, Takeo got swarmed and nearly died, Nikolai had killed Vivian after she shot and killed a Zombie that he threw his axe at; everything bad that could've happened, did happen. It had been...  _horrendous_.

And now, they had to open Agartha. Which was a lot more harder than it sounded. They had to kill Templars. And avoid falling rocks and avoid being trapped in a corner.

Thankfully, they wouldn't have to deal with Panzer Soldats or worry about getting crushed by any of the Robots. They also didn't have to worry too much about being swarmed since there was so many of them to fight off the Templars.

Everyone was also prepared (a lot more than they should have been, really). Everyone had double Pack-a-Punched weapons, each had a shield to defend their backs, they had literally grinded to get a Max Ammo so they'd have full magazines and extra ammo ready for the battle and they each had a designated partner (because the buddy system was important) and each group had a 'squad name' (which Vivian really didn't understand the need for it, but Dare was insistent on it). Takeo was with Nikolai (Squad Red), Tank was with Richtofen (Squad Grey), Daren, Vivian and Scott were in a group together (Squad Blue).

They also each had a Gobblegum ready to pop when they needed it, as well as the same Perks (which would be needed in this situation).

Vivian had a Cache Back at the ready, Nikolai had Idle Eyes ready, Takeo had Fatal Contraption, Scott had Kill Joy, Tank had Phoenix Up, Richtofen had Crawl Space and Daren had Near Death Experience. All of them had Juggernog, Double Tap, Speed Cola and Widow's Wine.

Yup, definitely over-prepared.

Then again, there was the threat of this becoming extremely difficult (if Samantha was deciding to be nasty). So perhaps they were just on the border of being over-prepared.

Vivian cracked her neck as the final staff was put into place and each squad quickly went to their designated areas. Vivian then cried out, " _Bring it on_ ,  _fuck nuggets_!"

/ / /

"How many more fucking souls does this need?!"

Vivian fired her Argus at a zombie, its head exploding in a spray of blood. She then used her bowie knife to slit the throat of a zombie that had attempted to take a bite of her shoulder. "We need a hundred Templar souls!" She shouted back at Tank. "But for whatever fucking reason, we are hardly getting any!"

It was true, they had hardly encountered any Templars so far, which was strange because that's all that they should've been encountering in this place. And, just about everyone had used up their Gobblegums, much to Vivian's dismay. She hadn't used her Cache Back yet, thankfully, as they had encountered that power up more than once. However, one big problem was that there seemed to be almost no end to this wave. There was no break, no short moment of respite, nothing. Not even after they had gotten a couple Nuke power-ups.

So they were all becoming very tired, very quick, both physically and mentally.

It wasn't until another Nuke power-up came around that there was a small hope for them.

Takeo had seen it first and he struggled to get to it, constantly shooting at Zombies and swinging his katana around. The constant shower of blood and the constant grabbing was making it extremely difficult to grab the power up.

And it was already beginning to blink.

With a roar, Takeo pushed through the large horde of Zombies and grabbed at the power-up, grabbing it just in time. The Zombies cries were heard as they all burned, some exploding, as their bodies fell to the floor in a bloodied mess. Everyone quickly reloaded and grouped back up in their squads. "Anyone need a Max Ammo?"

She flinched as she heard a chorus of 'yes' (mainly shouted at the tops of their lungs) and she immediately blew a bubble and the gum disintegrated in her mouth and she quickly grabbed the power-up. Everyone seemed to breathe a heavy sigh of relief, until they heard a clap of thunder and then Samantha's giggle.

' _Have fun!_ '

Everyone suddenly became on edge, keeping their backs tight against their partner's. All was quiet and the only sounds they could hear was the beating of their own hearts. Water dripped from a stalactite, the droplet hitting a small puddle on the ground, creating an echo. Someone's knees cracked, the sound of leather gloves tightening against a metal gun, boots shuffling against loose earth.

Vivian let out a quiet sneeze, making just about everyone jump, and Scott couldn't help but chuckle. "Why do you shake your head like that when you sneeze?" He asked, his voice just above a whisper.

" _Shut up_!" She hissed, elbowing him in his back.

They all then heard a quiet rumbling, progressively getting louder and louder, and then the rumbling could be felt underneath their feet and everyone looked down to see small cracks forming in the earth.

This wasn't normal. At all.

Vivian, upon realizing what was happening, shouted as loudly as she could, " _Split up_!"

The zombies hands started shooting up from the ground and everyone tried to avoid being grabbed, running in every-which-way in an attempt to prevent being downed before the Templars even got out from the ground. They also had to avoid the rock walls so they didn't end up being crushed.

A lot harder now that they weren't in groups.

They had formed squads for a reason; to keep everyone safe and to make sure that, if one went down, the other would be right there to help. And to prevent their partners from wandering into a dangerous area and to prevent any 'friendly' incidents. Communication was key and now that they were split, communication was practically non-existent.

Daren was already forming a train of Templars and he thought things would be easy this way, so, he grabbed his sniper and fired at the oncoming line of Zombies.

They barely even flinched.

He fired again, then again and again, and only four had gone down from his sniper shots. " _I thought the Locus was one shot one kill_!" He roared, now running once again to get his weapon reloaded.

Vivian wasn't having much of a good time herself. Even with her Porter's Mark II, it still took about four full shots for a Templar to go down. With a headshot, two full ones. It didn't make sense why these guys were so tough! Even Scott was having a harder time taking them down, despite getting headshots with his sniper.

Takeo and Nikolai seemed to be having a much easier time, mainly because they weren't using guns the whole time and were using melee weapons (Takeo was using his Katana and Nikolai was using his axe). Two hits max from those things. Richtofen was using a Death Machine (most likely taken from a random Power Up spawn) to take down the Templars that were following him and Tank already had his shield broken and resorted to using his Bowie Knife and pistol (not the regular ones - Scott made sure everyone upgraded their weapons).

On the bright side, however, a great many souls were now being taken, the small glowing orbs travelling to the Teleporter.

A wall rose and Vivian quickly made her way under it, tossing a 'widowed' grenade at the train of Templars she had created. Hopefully, she'd be able to slow them down at least a little bit.

When the grenade blew up, several of the Templars Froze and some even turned into crawlers. Careful as to not kill the knee-biters, Vivian open fired on the train, slowly backing up as she did.

With everyone becoming so distracted by the Templars following them, they had failed to realize that they were getting themselves closed in more and more, slowly making their way towards the center of the Crazy Place. Templar after Templar fell to their bullets and blades, their blood colouring the stone floor a dark, crimson red, flowing between the cracks, their cries echoing against the stone walls.

Their circle tightened and only then did they sense their proximity to one another. They had enough space to move, but now with the Templars surrounding them, they had no hope of breaking their circle. They had to fight or flee, and fleeing wasn't much of an option for them.

Everything was becoming a blur, bullets firing, blood spraying, blades swinging, heads rolling, clicking of empty chambers sounded, shouts or grunts of pain as Templars grabbed them. Now it was a fight for survival, a fight for their lives. It couldn't end here, not after all the work they went through!

And not after having to beat so many Panzers, that was something she  _definitely_  didn't want to have to relive again!

A sudden flash of white blinded nearly everyone in the group, rendering them unable to see in front of their own faces, then once the light died down, Samantha's voice echoed throughout the Crazy Place. She couldn't be properly heard but upon feeling a strong gust of wind, she shouted at Richtofen, " _Release the Drone_!"

Richtofen was quick to allow the Maxis Drone to float in the air. The Drone quickly entered into Agartha, freeing the young girl.

Then the Templars suddenly fell to the ground, lifeless, their eyes void of the evil light they normally pertained.

Everyone looked up to see the Portal was now open, the clouds circling around the ray of light, spinning, turning like a hurricane, but no such storm was brewing.

Several moments passed, everyone was dead silent. Once it finally sank in, Tank couldn't stop the breathless laugh from escaping him. "We did it..."

Vivian let out a cry of triumph. "Damn right we did, boy!"

Everyone's voices raised in a chorus of victorious cries and hollers, fists were raised and Vivian had tackled Tank to the ground with how hard she ran into him to hug him. " _We did it_!"

All but Edward seemed to enjoy their victory. Although they had finally gotten through, and that they would finally be able to get out of this hell hole, he couldn't follow where they were going.

Vivian seemed to sense this and when she looked to him, her smile disappeared for a brief moment, turning into a frown, before Scott and Daren began to talk with her, replaying the events of what happened in the Crazy Place.

We'll see each other again, he thought. It was going to be all up to her and her companions if it would be a happy reunion.


	5. Release the Hounds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just so everyone is clear on the ages of the characters,
> 
> Vivian: 25  
> Daren: 25  
> Scott: 27
> 
> Since the Primis characters are younger versions of the Ultimis characters, this is what I believe their ages to be here;
> 
> Tank: 29  
> Takeo: 28  
> Edward: 30  
> Nikolai: 33

How long had it been? She hadn't been able to keep count all that well, considering they didn't have any sort of calendar. Really, she could've just been counting the days, but that wasn't too important and she also never payed much attention due to them constantly moving around.

They had no map, no form of GPS, nothing, so they couldn't hardly tell where they were going. They could tell if they were moving North or South, or East or West, but beyond that, their location would always remain a mystery.

Whenever they entered a town, it would always be empty, aside from the zombies of course. Soldier zombies. In the midst of an actual war. In another dimension, in another time.

Which kept making her ask, how long had it been? How long had it been since Edward had ditched the group?

He had gone with them in the Teleporter, of course, but once everyone had arrived in Germany (somewhere in Germany, anyways), Richtofen was nowhere to be seen. Tank had been outraged, and everyone else had some minor anger towards the Doctor, but Scott, Vivian and Daren all knew better. Well, Scott and Daren might've been a little pissed, but Vivian knew what the German had to do.

Now that she thought about it, it had most likely been almost two years. Close to the time that they had to head over to Breslau.

Quite a lot had changed in those several months; Nikolai and Takeo seemed to be getting pretty close together as they traveled, Scott and Daren were both growing out their facial hair and they also had turned out to be excellent hunters. Tank had been getting pretty snappy at everyone and stressed out as well. The man could hardly sleep proper anymore. And then there was Vivian; the bullet wound on her ear had long since healed, but there was a good chunk of flesh missing from it. Most of her blue hair was gone and the rest was only slightly fading out (finding streams warm enough to bathe in was difficult), she had gotten a lot thinner (well, then again, almost everyone seemed to be losing a bit of weight) and her heart of gold had lost its shine. Killing things had become a lot easier for her and she had become a lot more harsh than she normally was. It could have been stress, or her just being tense, or it could just be her finally growing up.

Maybe.

Or it could just be the fact that she was the only girl in the group. She preferred hanging around guys anyways because she could relate to men a lot easier, but she sometimes needed a girl to chat with too, to just be a, well,  _girl_.

She did enjoy talking about the boyish things, like gaming (mainly with Daren and Scott), or other boyish things like guns or theories about Zombie behaviour (which, really, would've been best spoken about with Richtofen). She could also just be herself around guys; instead of having to act like a lady around other women (especially in this timeline), she could do things she enjoyed and act like herself. She loved to roll around in mud (it felt nice and cool, it was good for the skin and for your muscles and joints, and she was born and raised country), she had bad table manners, she often could curse like a sailor (but she doesn't throw around the harsher curses unless she was angry or in pain or upset) and she just hated girly things.

But, sometimes, she just needed a girl to talk to. Someone to talk with about the girly things, like clothes and hairstyles and nail polish colours or designs, or even about boys (which sounded childish but she couldn't talk about how good-looking a guy was with other guys).

But that didn't seem possible. Right now, she was stuck with five other men, and she will be for a long time.

It was currently evening and everyone was huddled around a campfire. Takeo sharpened his blade, Tank stoked the fire with a stick, Scott and Daren checked over their snipers, Nikolai finished the rest of his food, and Vivian carved into a piece of wood. Everything seemed to be so quiet, no sounds of Zombies, or war, but everyone there knew better. They knew what was going on.

She heard something cracking and looked up to see Dempsey rolling his neck, cracking it as he went along. He then rubbed at his shoulders. "Your neck hurt, mate?"

He just grunted in response and checked his gun. She raised an eyebrow. "Tank, if you're sore just say so."

He didn't respond to her. Vivan, with a slight sigh, got up and stretched herself out. She then tipped over the stump she was sitting on and rolled it over to where Tank was, setting it back up behind him. Sitting down on the stump and crossing her legs, Vivian tapped his shoulder. "Mind scooching your coat off for a second, hon?"

"The fuck are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm gonna do, dumbass? Do you want to stay sore or do you want to feel more relaxed?"

Sighing heavily, Tank set his gun down and unzipped his jacket, shrugging it off his shoulders. Vivian pushed aside the small chains around his neck and rubbed the tips of her fingers carefully over his shoulders. She needed to feel where it was the tightest or toughest. And holy hell, this man had a lot of knots! "Your muscles are harder than a knot in a tree!" She muttered. "Do you ever take the time to just relax?"

"In case you haven't noticed, Blue," He gestured around them, "We're in the middle of a damn apocalypse. Since when has there ever been a time to relax?"

Vivian started to knead at the muscles in his shoulders, careful as to make sure her nails didn't dig into his skin. "Uh, something called sleep? Look, I might be an insomniac myself, but even  _I_  know when and how to sleep. All  _you_  do is toss and turn at night." She applied pressure onto the back of his shoulder with her thumb, moving it in tight circles. "And small moments like this, just sitting around the fire, not having to worry about Zombies chomping our throats out, you can take time to relax as well."

Nikolai nodded in agreement. " _Da_ , now is good to take time to settle down. It's no good winding yourself up."

Tank scoffed. "Easy for you to say...  _Nikki_."

The stone that Takeo was using to whet his Katana suddenly fell out of his hand and Nikolai blushed a faint crimson. Scott and Daren both looked up, their eyes wide with shock. For a brief moment, Tank smirked but then it turned into a grimace as Vivian's hands tightened harshly on his shoulders, her nails bound to leave a few marks. Before he could say anything to her, she loosened her grip and continued gently rubbing at the sore muscles. "Sorry, there was just a  _really_  tight muscle..."

/ / /

"Remind me again why I'm stuck with you?"

"Because!" She snapped. "There's only three tents. Nikolai and Takeo are together and I would just find it way too weird for me to be sleeping in the same tent with one of my best friends. So, either deal with it or sleep outside."

This is how it had been for the last several months. At first, she had been partnered with Nikolai, but he had rolled over and almost smushed her once and that was it. She then was partnered with Takeo, who couldn't stand the fact that she couldn't get to sleep until almost early morning. Then she ended up with Tank. He snored (although a lot quieter than she had previously thought), she apparently twitched and talked in her sleep (once she did get to sleep, that is). They both had a hard time sleeping, but she was a lot more quieter compared to him when she moved around to find a comfortable spot. He hogged the sheet and she often would have him pushed to the edge of the tent.

They annoyed each other, but they dealt with it.

"Now, my turn to ask a question," She turned over onto her side to face him. "Why did you have to go and embarrass Nik and Takeo like that?"

The American didn't respond and he stayed with his back turned to her, letting out a deep huff. She sat up, then, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'll keep bugging you until you answer."

There was a few moments of silence he felt her poke at the back of his neck. "Hey."

He brought the sheet up to his neck and scooched further from her. She moved herself closer. Waiting for a few more moments, she reached her hand over him and then poked his cheek. "Hey."

He immediately swatted her hand away. "Fuck off..."

A few more quiet moments and he felt her poke his back. "Hey."

He jerked his elbow towards her and he heard her snort. He pushed himself more towards the edge of the tent, pulling the sheets with him, and he used his pillow to guard his back. Unless she got up and actually kicked him or talked his ear off (which he knew she wouldn't do because she cared about letting everyone else sleep), there really wasn't much of a way she could annoy him now.

Vivian sat there for several more moments and his eyes fell closed as he felt himself drifting off, thinking that she had finally just decided to let sleeping dogs lie.

That is, until she thwacked him over the head with her pillow (which was really just her make-shift pillow case filled with extra clothes).

"Hey."

He shot up and whipped around, fixing his most deathly of glares on her, to which she only smiled. "The hell is your problem?!" He growled

"Answer the question." She said. "Why did you have to be a dick tonight?"

Dempsey resisted the urge to yell at her, mainly because he didn't want anyone waking up and being pissed at them, but also because he didn't want to end up in a fist fight with her. Again. "Look, we've been doing nothing but walking and shooting those fucking flesh eaters for-"

"Doesn't give you a reason to be a jerk." She snapped. "Look, they probably wanted to keep their relationship private so you didn't need to go and bring it out into the open like that."

He scoffed. "Then they should try keeping it down at night."

He set himself back down on the ground and pulled the sheet over his shoulder (this time leaving some for her to crawl under), muttering a few curses under his breath as he did.

Vivian blew at the locks of blue hair that fell in front of her eyes. She immediately understood what was going on with him after his statement.

After traveling for about a year, Vivian had noted how frustrated Tank was becoming. When she had confronted him about his behaviour, her observations had proven to be true and the man had been becoming sexually frustrated.

He didn't say it  _outright_ , but his manner of speech was almost similar to this evening's. She had taken a wild guess and although Tank had taken forever to respond (and was redder than a tomato), his answer to her was straightforward and simple.

And what had followed was...  _interesting_. And it had changed their relationship, for better or worse; they still didn't know. Their late-night 'get togethers' weren't exactly common and they never actually went to one another if they needed to blow off some steam. Most of the time, they could tell if they needed to get off. And that's all it ever was; there was no intimacy of any kind, just getting each other off was all it ever was and that's how they both planned on keeping it. Friends with benefits. They never actually  _did it_  either. That was one line they both agreed never to cross. Vivian just assumed that it was because Tank might've had a woman waiting for him back home, and Tank had assumed that in her dimension she could've had a special someone (or that relationships worked a bit differently in her dimension).

With a quiet sigh, Vivian lied down on her side and slowly moved closer to Tank, slipping her hand under the sheet and placing it against his hip, to which he almost flinched. "Look, hon... you can drop the act around me." Her deft fingers worked at the buckle on his belt and his body quivered with anticipation as he felt her hand slip under his briefs. "It's just us."

A quivering sigh escaped his lips as her hand wrapped around him, gently stroking him.

/ / /

Once morning had come, they all had awoken slightly disturbed (all of them looked like they had seen a ghost). Their morning was silent, few words being spoken as they packed and prepared to leave.

Although they had spoken nothing of the dream they all had had the previous evening, with a single look, they all know where they had to go and what they had to do. The only question was, which direction was Breslau in?

They had been traveling around Austria and Germany for two years and they had lost their sense of location a long time ago.

Despite herself, Vivian couldn't help but ask, "Anyone got a map?"

Daren looked as if he was about to smack her over the head. "If we had a fucking map, we would've used it  _ages_  ago, Vee!"

She immediately laughed. "I know, mate! I'm just pulling your leg; calm down!"

Nikolai put his pistol in its holster and swung his pack over his shoulder. "Little girl had said something about a blue light. Perhaps we are to follow that?"

Vivian made a face. "Come on, where the hell would there be a blue light?"

Scott tapped her shoulder and she snapped her head to him. "What?"

He pointed to the horizon.

A streak of a blue light could be seen, just like how a blue light shined where a Mystery Box was. Vivian stared blankly at the light for a few moments. "Oh..."

Tank muttered something under his breath before informing the rest of the group, "That's probably five days travel. We barely have enough food to last three."

"We hunt." Said Takeo. "Or we simply not eat. Better to sleep hungry than to starve ourselves."

Vivian nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Like, I can last without a few meals just fine, I dunno about the rest of y'all. Besides, once we get to Breslau, we won't need to worry too much about rationing food. Probably..."

/ / /

_4 Days Later_

A zombie opened its ugly jaw, its decaying teeth showing as it snarled viciously. The sound of food called to it and it slowly made its way over to the unsuspecting creature, its hands reaching out.

A gunshot could be heard and a spray of blood later, the zombie fell to the snowy ground, nearly scaring the chicken away. It flapped its wings and clucked wildly before calming down, looking at the undead thing almost curiously. Vivian knelt down and the chicken backed away slightly. "It's fine, it's dead now, little guy."

Reaching into her pocket, Vivian pulled out a handful of seeds and placed them in a pile in front of the chicken, who happily ate away at it. She still didn't understand how there were random animals still wandering about, but it was always a nice thing to see some more peaceful creatures still roaming the earth.

"That's the third one today, Blue." Tank said, shaking his head disapprovingly, to which she only smiled. "Another meal gone, in my opinion."

"Hey, chickens are sweet creatures and, quite frankly, take too much time to gut compared to other animals." She gently stroked the farm fowl's head before getting back up on her feet, putting her pistol back into its holster on her thigh. Turning to Tank, she patted his cheek. "You shoot it, I make sure you eat it raw tonight." She smiled, only somewhat less friendly and he immediately saw that as a threat rather than a simple joke.

They had been making good progress and had been reaching their destination a lot sooner than they had anticipated. However, the only reason for that was the fact that a horde of Zombies was coming their way, most likely because of Samantha. They had skipped two nights of sleep and just kept on moving. It was more than likely that they would reach their destination within the hour, if not sooner. They had been preparing themselves, as they knew that once they reached The Giant, there would be no more time to prepare and they would have no choice but to fight.

Since they were going to be "visiting" the 1.0 version of Richtofen, Vivian knew that the place would most likely be all boarded up already, so they wouldn't have to worry about that instantly. But they would have to worry about keeping each other safe since fatigue was getting to them. It was getting close to sunset as well, so she knew they wouldn't have to fight for too long before they could sleep again.

Unless Sam had other plans or stayed up past her initial 'bedtime'.

The blue light had been long gone but their destination was in perfect view, so they knew where to go. Nikolai had almost freaked out thinking that they messed up but Scott had been quick to point out the giant machine-looking thing that was out in the distance.

As they neared The Giant, Takeo turned to Vivian, Scott and Daren. "Is there anything we should know before we reach our destination?"

"He's insane." Vivian instantly replied. "Literally. A sociopathic schizophrenic."

"He's also a Nazi." Scott added.

"And there's Hell Hounds." Daren shuddered. "They will eat you alive if given the chance."

They all had agreed one evening when the Primis members were asleep to leave out the fact that they'd be meeting back up with Primis Richtofen. For one, they really didn't need to know, and second, they knew that the Primis members would probably still have some bad blood with the German. So, they all agreed to not mention the man.

The giant machine suddenly sparked to life, volts of electricity bouncing between the metallic rods. A small feeling of dread filled Vivian at the sight. "Okay, I think we need to get moving!"

Everyone immediately broke out into a run and Vivian struggled to keep up with them. Although she had been travelling with everyone for almost two years, she still struggled to run or sometimes even walk at their pace. Men were naturally stronger, this she knew, but she was also a slight bit heavier than most women her age (although she had lost a few pounds over the last couple of years). She was most likely below two-hundred pounds, now, but she still had a bit of a belly. How she hadn't lost more weight, she'd never understand.

Everyone stopped as they met a brick wall and they struggled to find a way in. Takeo had attempted to climb the wall, only to find that there was barbed wire at the top. Nikolai tried finding a more  _conventional_  way in, like a door. Tank just tried finding a hole in the walls somewhere. Since Scott, Daren and Vivian knew the area a lot better, they just went around the entire building, looking for that big hole in the chainlink fence. That's where Zombies could crawl over.

"So, what're we gonna do?" Asked Scott. "Like, we know this map pretty good but I only know about linking the Teleporters and that's it."

Vivian snorted. "I've done this map on solo  _plenty_  of times! I know what to do!"

Daren raised an eyebrow at her. "But did you ever finish it?"

Vivian paused for a few moments, giving Daren a blank stare, before she flipped him the bird. "Shut up."

They laughed at her.

When they finally found the hole in the fence, Scott let out a sharp whistle, knowing that the Ultimis version of Richtofen wouldn't hear him since he was too enamored with teleporting Maxis and Samantha and the demonic dog. The three soldiers had gotten to them in a flash and they all quickly made their way over the fence, readying their weapons.

A small wind blew, some snowflakes fell, signalling the first snowfall of the season. Richtofen cackled evilly, making Vivian's stomach churn. He had just sent off a man and his daughter, without remorse. She would've  _hated_  if they wound up with Ultimis instead of Primis...

Tank pulled back the hammers of his pistols, making the evil Nazi stop in his evil laughter. He slowly turned his head to try and see who it was. "This ain't funny, doc..." Tank growled.

Nikolai cocked his shotgun, aiming it at Richtofen. "Turn around,"

Takeo aimed his own pistol. "Slowly..."

The three young adults, who were pointing their own weapons at the Nazi, all gave each other a look and rolled their eyes. It was almost cheesy how those two had finished the sentence together.

Richtofen turned to face them, an obviously displeased sneer curling his upper lip. "Do you know... who I am?!"

Vivian slowly approached him, raising her eyebrows in a snooty manner. "Do you know who  _we_  are?"

The German gave the Canadian a look, almost of confusion, and a few snickers came from Daren and Scott, who immediately understood the reference she had made. "I don't think he's playing the game of 'who the fuck are you?'." Daren chuckled.

Vivian laughed quietly before straightening her posture slightly and lowered her pistol, now fully addressing the older man. "Look, there's this whole chain of events that has to happen. So, this can go one of two ways-"

The distant sound of demonic screams could be heard and although Vivian didn't budge, the men of the group had taken positions at boarded up windows and open areas where the horde could come through. "Either, you listen to and do  _exactly_  as we say," She then aimed her gun once more at Richtofen. "Or, we do it ourselves. Awaken the test subjects. Now."

Although reluctantly, Richtofen approached the control panel and the teleporter sparked to life. Hearing the cries of the horde becoming closer, Vivian quickly took a spot next to a broken, boarded window, watching silently as the Zombies approached. At first, all seemed to go quiet. Vivian breathed in deeply, steadying her aim.

A zombie ran towards the window and ripped off the first board with ease, reaching its arm through to try and grab her. With a vicious cry, Vivian fired at the undead creature, killing it with a clean shot to the head.

Everyone was soon firing at the horde of the undead, their two years of practice coming in handy as most of the Zombies they shot died with a blow to their skulls. Occasionally, Daren would look around to make sure that everyone was doing okay. It wasn't really his designated job, per se, but it was something he had placed upon himself; if someone was becoming overwhelmed, he would immediately go to aid them. He could manage quite well on his own, so he never worried if the area he had chosen to fight in got swarmed with zombies.

A small sound came from the teleporter and Tank looked to see the Nazi moving his hand, looking ready to press something. "Richtofen!" He shouted. "Whatever you're thinking of doing, don't do it!"

Vivian called back to the American. "He's gonna be a little bitch and do it anyways, don't bother with him!"

The Nazi smirked and immediately pressed the button, giving Vivian a look that reflected that of a child disobeying their mother, and she shook her head in annoyance. "Stupid..."

As the Zombies began to collect outside, the boards on the windows were being torn down quicker, making everyone occupied with their respective areas rather than what was going on at the Teleporter. Daren had remembered how Scott suggested maybe stopping Primis Edward from shooting Ultimis Edward but Vivian had shot that idea down extremely quickly. There was a reason for Richtofen shooting his counterpart and they had to keep with the flow of things or there could easily be consequences if they don't. He didn't understand it, but he went along with his friend. After all, Vivian knew about the game's lore better than he and Scott did, so they really didn't have much of a choice but to listen to her (well, they did, but they really didn't want to test her patience or the possible consequences that could happen if they interrupted the events that were to take place).

In a matter of moments, they heard a single shot and a heavy body hit the floor and then they heard Tank raging at the German.

Vivian slowly started backing away from her window as the horde started making its way inside, firing the last of her magazine at them before reloading and joining the others at the platform. She stood beside Daren and Scott, who each had their own weapons reloaded and ready for the horde.

Her eyes skimmed over the mass of the undead and she suddenly became very uneasy. "We're not actually jumping into this are we?" She whispered to Daren.

Primis suddenly leaped into the horde of Zombies, firing their guns and downing as many zombies as possible. The three young adults stared at them in disbelief, mouths agape with shock. How they didn't get down instantly, they'd never know or understand.

The cries of the damned came behind them and Daren and Scott instantly reacted, jumping into the horde and firing their own weapons, leaving Vivian in a state of shock. "What're y'all doing?!"

Something grabbed at her shoulder and she whipped around to see the gaping maw of a zombie. With a shrill shriek, Vivian shot the zombie and tumbled backward off the platform, falling onto the snowy ground.

And into the horde of flesh eaters.

Everyone felt a pang in their heads and they turned to see that Vivian was laying on the ground and the zombies were completely ignoring her. Although the Primis members found no humour in it, Daren and Scott started laughing. "How did you get down already?!" Daren shouted.

"Y'all left me without warning!" She cried, shooting at a few zombies in the hopes that she could help. Of course, her ammo was limited so she would have to aim carefully. "A chomper got me and I fell back!" She started crawling over to Takeo, who was currently the closest person to her.

Scott managed to make his way out of the horde and he tossed a grenade, killing several zombies and turning several more into crawlers. Daren immediately caught on and helped with luring most of the horde away, allowing plenty of room and time for someone to help Vivian.

As the horde thinned out, Richtofen started taking note of everyone's behaviour. There was less vocal communication, but he could tell that everyone seemed to communicate through body language and actions rather than words, which was good. Showed that they had learned teamwork while he was gone. Vivian seemed a lot less jumpy and less twitchy with the trigger whilst Daren and Scott seemed to be the duo of the team. The three young adults seemed to have kept their sense of humour as well, which was surprising but not entirely unwelcome.

As Vivian stabbed at a zombie, she couldn't help but notice how dark it had gotten. "Why isn't Samantha calling them off?" She muttered to herself. She the turned to Richtofen. "Hey, mate, why isn't Samantha calling off the horde, yet?"

The Doctor slit the throat of a zombie with his knife before shooting it with his pistol. " _Ich weiß nicht_ ,  _fraulein_  Vivian!"

" _Spreche Englisch_ , Richtofen!" She shouted back at him. Although she understood what the man had said, she wouldn't understand  _everything_  he said in German and she didn't know how well-learned the others were in languages (specifically German).

"I do not know," He repeated. Seeing the last few zombies following where Daren and Scott had lead them off to, Richtofen visibly relaxed and he brushed back his dark hair. "Perhaps she has changed the rules, or perhaps she has forgotten to call them away."

Tank brushed at the zombie guts on his leather jacket, blood smearing on the material, and he looked back at the German. "You're telling me that we could be shooting these maggot-sacks all night?"

"Possibly."

She felt something grabbing at her leg and Vivian instinctively shot at the crawling undead. "I personally have no problem with that as long as we have a break in the morning or something." She stated. "I know the rest of y'all aren't insomniacs like me, but I'm just speaking for myself."

They heard a deep voice saying,  _Kaboom_ , before they heard the last cries of the damned as they burned. They then heard Scott shouting, " _Sorry_!"

"Perhaps we should regroup before the hell pigs come back,  _da_?"

Everyone nodded in agreement before taking off, passing through a corridor before making their way into the main courtyard, where Scott and Daren now stood. "We need to make a quick game plan, guys!" Vivian exclaimed. "Y'all know what to do, right?"

Scott and Daren both returned her question with blank stares, to which she looked almost incredulous. "You don't know the Egg?!"

Scott raised his gloved hands. "In my defense, I didn't even know there was an Egg here..."

Vivian breathed a heavy sigh and she brushed her fingers through her hair, pulling slightly at the strands. This was actually bad; if she was the only one who knew about the Easter Eggs on the map, they would have a much harder time in getting it done. Granted, there was seven of them and they had completed Origins back in France in about two days, almost three. If they managed to do everything correctly, they could easily have this done in a few hours. Or maybe a day at the latest.

Zombies could be heard ripping at the boards as they screamed and Vivian gestured for everyone to get closer to her. "Okay, here at The Giant, teamwork is essential but not vital! Try sticking together in groups of two and if you get separated try finding someone else. While walking around the map, keep your eyes peeled for scrap papers! If you see glowing green lights in the sky, start looking around for three objects; a teddy, a monkey bomb and just a glowing object on the balconies!"

Everyone started to become uneasy as they heard the zombies starting to approach. "Scott, you go with Tank; Squad Orange. Daren, you go with Nikolai and Takeo; Squad Green." She gestured to Richtofen. "I'll stick with Edward; Squad Blue. You decide your numbers on your own. If we're in a rut, we meet at the box..." She quickly looked around and saw the blue light. "At the power switch near Teleporter C."

As soon as everyone got together in their respective groups, Vivian nodded and raised her gun. "Let's go kick some ass!"

/ / /

Vivian shot at the zombie that had lunged at her and it fell at her feet, the blood pouring from its blown skull. She wrinkled her nose at the stench and she kicked at it, sighing heavily in frustration. That was most likely the last one in their area, as the numbers had died down but there were no more screams. Someone was holding a crawler, somewhere.

She and Edward had been fighting together in silence for several hours now and she was trying her damnedest to keep her eyes peels for the scrap pieces of paper. She couldn't remember their exact locations but she tried her best in spotting them. They were currently in the animal testing rooms, where lots of nooks and crannies were. She needed to try and spot the papers before he did, if there were any.

She  _had_  to spot them before Richtofen did.

There had been a reason that she partnered herself with Richtofen; she was no fool. Even if she didn't mention the scrap pieces of paper, Richtofen would've known about them and there was a chance that he would try finding them and then destroying them. He wouldn't want anything to be discovered that could raise any further suspicions with the rest of the group.

However, despite that they both seemed to be on a mission, Vivian wasn't entirely comfortable with the silence.

She reloaded her weapon (currently the RK5) but seeing she was running low on ammunition, she decided to buy a wall weapon. She approached the chalk drawing and, gently tapping her hand against it, a Kuda dropped into her hands and she sighed. The Kuda wasn't her most  _favourite_  weapon, but beggars couldn't be choosers. "So... what sort of dimensions did you see in your travels?" She asked, turning around to face Richtofen.

He seemed to be examining the blackboard above the teddy bear (where the Mystery Box could appear) before he suddenly whipped around, his free hand tucked tightly to his side and closed into a fist. Before he could respond, she placed her free hand on her hip and gave the German a scolding look. "'Cus that wasn't suspicious at all." She gestured at his closed hand with her Kuda. "Mind handing me that little slip of paper you got?"

Richtofen was very hesitant to listen to the young woman, seeing that she might be as much of a threat to him as the others, but he complied and begrudgingly handed her the crumpled sheet of paper. With a sigh she smoothed the paper out as best as she could to reveal the familiar blue and gold colours of the blueprints. "Look, they're going to find out either way. Why do you think I have everyone split up? And why do you think I partnered up with you?"

The Doctor's stare hardened, his light blue eyes gleaming almost menacingly and Vivian slipped the scrap paper into the front pocket of her pants. "Look, Eddie, they aren't going to trust you any more if you keep doing things like this. And keeping secrets won't help you, either."

The German Scientist shrugged his shoulders slightly. "They do not trust me anyhow, no thanks to my... darker, counterpart."

"But I do." She hissed. "But if you continue to do shady shit, it'll give me reason not to trust you. As far as you're concerned, I'm your lifeline here; if Tank, Takeo and Nikolai end up wanting you booted out, I'm the one who can keep that from happening."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "You are now resorting to threats? Rather unbecoming of your persona."

She shook her head. "I'm not threatening. If I was making a threat, trust me hon, you'd know." She moved in closer to him, dropping her voice as if someone could've been listening to them. "Look, I'm throwing you a lifeline here. Scott, Daren and I? We all know what you're going to do and what's to happen. But some things have changed, things that really shouldn't have. If things go to shit, namely, shit goes wrong and you're being blamed, I can keep anything bad from happening to you."

"What makes you think you can stop them?"

She tapped her lips. "Words."

Edward considered the young woman for a moment. She seemed trustworthy, and she didn't seem angry at him. She was also being honest with him, which was surprising. Her pulse appeared normal and her eyes showed no deception. If she was being truly genuine, then he felt no reason to distrust her.

With a quiet, defeated sigh, Richtofen nodded. "Very well."

Vivian nodded in return. "Good. Now, since that's out of the way," a small, childish grin suddenly appeared on her lips. "Can I see it?"

" _Was_...?"

"The Summoning Key?" Her grin spread wider. "Can I see it? Please?"

He looked as if he was about to say 'no' and Vivian had a slight pout in her expression. "Come on, for me this is like, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! It's something that's futuristic and scientific and supernatural!"

With another sigh, Richtofen pulled Vivian into the 'cage room' (as she had called it). Checking to make sure nobody else was approaching, Richtofen pulled the summoning key out from a pouch on his belt. Her chocolate coloured eyes immediately lit up with fascination and curiosity. She placed her Kuda in a holster on her belt and almost cautiously, tenderly, Vivian took the Summoning Key from his hand. "Whoa..." she breathed.

Her fingers trailed over the golden artifact, her eyes flickering along the orb, following the intricate designs. It was intriguing to see a woman from another dimension being so interested in an object that was foreign to her own world. Judging from her manner of speech, she knew what the Summoning Key was capable of, and yet she did not fear its power, or revere it. It was a child-like fascination, a curiosity. In truth, her behaviour reminded Richtofen of himself in his younger years, when he was beginning to work with Doctor Maxis.

Vivian opened her mouth to ask him about the Key until they heard a shuffling of feet. "Doc, Blue, are you in here?"

They both jumped and she whipped around, holding the Summoning Key behind her back with one hand. "What?" She snapped.

Dammit, she forgot that they were around Teleporter C...

Tank looked between the two of them, almost disapprovingly. "What are you two even doing in here?"

"Looking for the papers, dumbass." Vivian snapped at him. She then quickly pulled out the blueprint piece from her pocket. "Here."

Tank narrowed his eyes slightly at the two and his eyes glanced down at her hidden hand. "What're you holding?"

"Nothing."

"Prove it..."

"What the fuck is your problem man? You ain't my father." She sneered. "I sometimes hold one hand behind my back whenever I'm doing something one-handed. It's a habit. Sod off, mate!"

Richtofen was quick to diffuse the situation (albeit exasperatedly; it's remarkable how these two survived together when it seemed like they couldn't get along). "Is there something you need, Dempsey?"

The American soldier shook his head and waved his hand dismissively. "Forget it."

Once he left, Vivian breathed out a sigh of relief. "Okay so..." She turned and handed Richtofen the Summoning Key. "You can have this back..."

He quickly placed the ancient artifact back into the pouch on his belt. " _That_  is why I did not wish to show you. Lack of privacy."

Vivian waved her hand dismissively. "Pfft, come on; what's life without excitement?"

"You call  _this_  excitement?" He gestured around them.

"Compared to the life I was living, yeah; this is exciting. But don't get me wrong, it's kinda scary too, eh? Death and danger around every corner; exciting and scary at the same time." She placed the paper back in her pocket and then took her Kuda from its holster. "Come on, Eddie; let's get moving before they all think we're up to something we shouldn't be."

/ / /

Just when he thought things were looking up, the damn German had to come back. And he already seemed to be having an influence on Blue.

It's not that he had anything against a German man, but he had something against Richtofen specifically. He had known the man for weeks, fighting out in the trenches in France, but they barely said a word to each other. Or rather, Richtofen never spoke a word to him.

Dempsey shook his head as he walked through the snow-covered ground, making his way back over to Scott at the Teleporter. The man was shady and Blue... she was something else. She wasn't innocent, far from it, she also wasn't ignorant. In a way, she was more wide-eyed and open to things, she was also curious, something that could be dangerous around Richtofen. If the Doctor somehow managed to sway her morals...

No. That was the other Doctor that would do something like that. Then again, Richtofen always seemed to have some sort of agenda of his own and he didn't fail to notice how those two had cozied up to one another back in France. He also had woken up late in the evening and he had heard them talking.

"You're just getting paranoid, Tank..." He muttered.

Paranoid and tired, he thought. They've been wandering around this facility for  _hours_ , fighting zombies and trying to find these damn pieces of paper. What sort of importance did the papers have, anyways?

A zombie crawled towards him and, in a small fit of anger, he shot at the damned creature, killing it with a clean shot to its skull. Scott, who had been looking for a piece of the blueprints by Teleporter C, whipped around the corner, his eyes wide. "Did you just shoot the crawler?!"

If it hadn't been for their current situation, Scott would have laughed at Tank's 'shit I fucked up' face. " _Dude_! That was the only thing you weren't supposed to shoot and you fucking shot it!"

A clap of thunder could be heard and then Samantha's voice echoed throughout the facility. ' _Fetch me their souls!_ '.

They weren't even on the fifth wave! Why were they getting the hounds already?!

Scott frantically ran for the Mystery Box, kicking at it with his foot. The box opened and the weapons cycled before slowing, then stopping completely.

On the Ray Gun.

With an annoyed groan, Scott took the Ray Gun and the box immediately closed. The ray gun was not his most favourite weapon, as it could get pretty useless in later rounds, even if Pack-a-Punched. It was also slow. But, if they were going to be facing the hounds, he needed something better than a pistol.

He just hoped everyone else had a fighting chance against the hounds.

/ / /

When he heard the thunder clap, he thought they would be fine. Until he heard Samantha, then he  _knew_  they were fucked. He didn't even get himself a wall weapon yet! Well, then again they were only on the third wave now. Did he even have enough to get a wall weapon?

A number flashed before his eyes and he groaned. No, he didn't have enough. Not enough to buy one close by, anyways. It wasn't too great of a loss however, as Hell Hounds were not that difficult to beat with pistols. Unless your aim was shitty, then you could screw yourself.

"Hey, uh, guys?" He turned to Nikolai and Takeo, who were still looking around the mainframe for the scrap pieces of paper. "We got Hounds coming in..."

Small crackles of lightning could be seen on the ground next to Takeo and Daren suddenly panicked. "Tak,  _move_!"

By the time Takeo realized what was happening it had already been too late as the bolt of lightning struck the ground and the Hell Hound immediately jumped on top of Takeo, its burning body searing his flesh. The Japanese man shouted in pain as he held the demon back, the flames seeming to envelop his whole arm. Nikolai was quick to react and fired his pistol at the Hound.

Daren watched as the Hound exploded and Takeo was sprayed with dried bits of blood, charred flesh and splintered bones. The only thing that was really missing was the intestines, which was good, because Daren didn't know if he could've stomached that...

The Russian quickly aided Takeo, helping him up off of the cold stone ground. The three men all heard the crackling of electricity and the demonic, distant howls as another Hound appeared. They all worked together to try and defeat the Hell Hounds as they came after them, trying their best to avoid being bitten or mauled by them.

"Do you think everyone else is okay?" Daren shouted over the hounds.

"They will be fine!" Nikolai responded as he shot down another demon dog.

Daren shook his head but focused on taking down the hounds. He hoped to high heaven that everyone else was doing good. Everyone else was in a group of two and it appeared like these Hell Hounds can do a lot more damage than they could when just playing a game. Their bodies were on fire, so if they even got scratched by one, it would burn.

Jesus, this was so fucked up...

/ / /

As soon as Vivian had heard Samantha commanding the Hounds, she had simply grabbed Richtofens' hand and almost dragged him along, past the kennels, through the door, and then up the steps. The barrier had already been removed so they were able to get up them no problem.

Thankfully, Scott had already flipped the power switch, so the bridge was down which allowed for her to speed over it. Once there, she released her grip on his hand and placed herself in the corner next to the Double-Tap machine. She readied her Kuda, waiting for the hounds to appear.

Richtofen immediately understood what she was doing and he readied his own pistol, checking to make sure it was reloaded before taking a spot directly in front of the door. He had seen these...  _demons_  before. They were vile, vicious creatures, ones that should have remained where they belonged.

They saw the first bolts of lightning and they trained their guns at the single spot, waiting anxiously as the demonic whispers grew louder and louder, like a billowing wind, almost deafening them.

Then the hound appeared with a shrill howl and charged directly for Vivian, who immediately fired upon the demonic creature. As the Hound died, another soon appeared, then another and another. Soon, they were becoming overrun with Hounds and the two struggled to keep them at bay.

Richtofen, seeing that they were becoming cornered, knocked on the door behind him and it opened instantly. "Vivian!" He shouted.

The Canadian ran to him and then through the door. It wasn't too much smarter, trapping themselves in a room, but it was a lot better in case they needed to move around.

Of course, despite that Vivian had played this map numerous times, despite that she knew the various points in which the Hell Hounds could spawn, the one spot that she had forgotten about is the spot she had her back turned to. As a result, both she and Richtofen failed to notice the sparks of electricity on the ground behind them.

Vivian had heard the howl behind her, but she was already too occupied and distracted with what was in front of her to even really register that something was behind her. It wasn't until she felt the burning sensation against her back, that she realized she had fucked up. Royally.

The Hell Hound pounced onto her back and sank its vicious fangs into her neck, unleashing a bloodcurdling scream from the young woman. The demon didn't care for the humans' pain, as it had finally found a soul, and all it had to do now was retrieve it...

Richtofen did not even have to look to see what had happened, but when he did, the sight before him was more than enough to disturb him right to his core.

He knew what these creatures could do, but he had never actually seen it happen to anyone. The burning body of the hound licked at her clothes and her flesh and, although the creature was attempting to thrash her neck, no blood spilled, signifying that their teeth must be searing hot as well, cauterizing any wound they created.

The German scientist fired his pistol but the only response he got was clicking. With a roar of frustration, Richtofen kicked at the demon dog in its ribs, making it release its grip on Vivian as it yelped (more out of shock rather than pain) and Richtofen pulled out his knife, using it to stab the demonic creature's skull. The Hell Hound exploded, its charred and boiled remains spraying every which way. Not caring for any other Hounds that could come after him, Edward knelt down beside Vivian, who now was barely moving. Or breathing.

Richtofen pulled a syringe out from his pouch and injected the serum into her neck. Some of her wound healed, but just barely. She was revived, he knew, but in severe pain, if her now laboured breathing was any indication. "Vivian?"

He heard the now-familiar patter of paws and he turned to see a Hell Hound stalking towards them, its head turning left to right, its teeth glistening as it snarled. Upon seeing Edward, it barreled towards him, barking viciously.

Instinctively, Richtofen covered Vivian's body with his own; he had no bullets and a knife obviously wasn't enough to protect himself or the young woman, so the best he could do was use himself as a shield against the hound. Vivian was already in enough pain as it was and this was the only way he could think of to prevent any more pain being inflicted upon her.

He had felt the demons' teeth grabbing at the material of his vest, pulling him away from Vivian. The Hound thrashed his head, pulling viciously at the material between its fangs. The only thing Richtofen could do was act as a deadweight, keep the demon dog from homing in on Vivian. He couldn't hit it, lest he boil his own hands on its burning flesh and he had no gun to defend himself.

Damn him and his stupidity!

Just when he felt the hound readjust it grip, when he thought it would finally sink its fangs into his flesh, he heard something combust and small bits of flesh flicking against him. He turned, almost cautiously, to see one of the Canadian boys, Scott, standing above him, Ray Gun in hand.

His eyes were wide, almost in fear, and they flickered from him to Vivian. "What the fuck happened to her?!"

Before the German could respond, Samantha giggled, almost evilly, before saying, ' _Sleep well..._ '.

They both seemed to sigh in relief as they both knew that there would be a long break before they had to shoot zombies again. Or Hell Hounds.

Richtofen stood and then approached Vivian, who still was on the ground, curled into a ball. "Go and find something so we can carry her safely.  _Jetzt_!"

Scott immediately ran off to find something and Richtofen stayed close to Vivian, making sure she did not move too much, lest she upset her wounds further. As the moments passed, he hoped that wherever Samantha had the safehouse, that it would have the medical supplies he needed for these kinds of injuries.

/ / /

"What the hell happened to her?!"

"Is she going to be okay?"

"What the fuck happened?"

Scott and Richtofen carefully set Vivian down and moved her so she was laying on her stomach on a thin mattress. Despite all the questions that the other men had, he blatently ignored them and he pointed to Daren. "Find the medical supplies! And bring the water canteens!"

Daren, although still wondering what had happened to Vivian, immediately obeyed and went in search of the supplies. He was sure he saw them  _somewhere_...

The Hell Hound had burned away most of her pack and shirt, so it didn't take much effort to rip the rest of it off so he could examine her more closely. "I need a lantern!"

Pulling a lantern down from the ceiling of the safehouse, Nikolai quickly handed it to the Doctor, who set it on a chunk of stone beside him. Under the brighter light, he could see the full extent of her injuries.

The Hell Hound seemed to have done a lot more damage than he had previously thought. If it hadn't been for her pack, however, the damage could have been far more exponential.

The skin on her back was red and blistered, in a couple of areas there was severely large blisters. Some burns, ranging from first to second degree. When he inspected her neck, upon looking closer, he could see that the medication in the syringes had done most of the work in healing the neck wound, but there was certain to be nasty scars left behind.

Daren returned with an armful of medical supplies, dropping them onto another thin mattress and then moving the mattress towards Richtofen. "I didn't know what you needed, so-"

" _Gut_." He immediately grabbed a roll of bandages and he grabbed two canteens of water.

Daren and Scott both backed away from the Doctor, seeing that they most likely wouldn't be much help anyhow, and placed themselves near the fire.

They just had to let the doctor work, they knew. He knew better and they'd get in the way. She'd pull through, she's been through... well, not worse than being a demonic dog's chew toy, but almost as bad. She's been bitten by dogs, suffered cuts from working at her home on the farm, broken bones, been hit in the head with hard object, along with various other things that they probably didn't know about.

She'd pull through.


	6. Rest and Recuperate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vivian's wounds heal and the group tries their best to formulate a plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a trigger warning; there is mentions of self harm in this chapter.

Although her condition had lessened in severity, her reaction to the events that caused it wasn't good. At all.

After Richtofen had completely cleaned and bandaged her burns, she had been sitting on her mattress in silence. Then, it had struck her. It had only been for a few moments, but the poor girl had gone into a severe case of shock. Her pupils had suddenly become enlarged, her face pale and her body quivering; he had deducted it was because she had finally taken the time to process what had happened.

Then, she had a panic attack combined along with her shock. Everyone, especially Scott and Daren, had become extremely concerned for Vivian, but they could only watch as Richtofen did his work.

Tank had let her borrow his shirt (since all her spare clothing had been burned by the Hell Hound) and Richtofen had wrapped an extra sheet around her to help with the shock. He then had boiled water over the fire, allowed it to cool down, and gave it to Vivian to drink. Since they had no tea or any other form of soothing liquids, warm water would have to do.

Vivian flinched as Richtofen tended to the wound on her neck, carefully dressing it. "Y'know, you should go and take care of Takeo; I'm fine, now..." She muttered.

"My wound is not as great as yours,  _chīsai mono_." Takeo told her, his tone only slightly scolding. "You are in need of help, more than I."

She sighed and rolled her eyes, taking a quick sip of her warm water. Normally, she wasn't too big a fan of warm drinks, but in that moment, it felt very relaxing, having something warm in her stomach.

"Dude, how did that even happen so quick?" Daren suddenly asked, now seeming upset. "The Hell Hounds aren't that fast!"

As Richtofen finished wrapping the bandage around her neck, she sighed and rolled her shoulders (now stiff). "We both were distracted and I forgot those things could spawn in that room. It was just a little mistake."

"You could've died."

"I'd have come back!"

" _Nein_ , your friend speaks true." Richtofen stated, putting away the various medical supplies. "The  _Höllenhunde_  are here to, as Samantha said, fetch our souls. Once we die, our souls are taken with them."

"Can't you get them back?"

His silence was answer enough for her.

Tank sat up slightly to address the Doctor. "Wait, so you're telling me that if we get killed by one of those things, we're actually dead?"

" _Ja_. And not just dead.  _Taken_." Richtofen put the medical supplies on a nearby desk before setting himself back beside Vivian, a grim look on his face. "Our souls would belong to Samantha and she can do as she pleases. Our bodies would become the  _Untoten_ , but our souls-"

"Do you care about my health?" Vivian interrupted. He nodded once in response. "Then you won't finish that sentence. At all."

"Very well."

Vivian continued to drink her water and everyone else sat (almost uncomfortably) around the fire. Richtofen started writing notes, what of, she didn't know. He was writing in German, a language she could speak better than she could understand, and she couldn't read it at all. Then again, she couldn't read in any language other than English. French was the only language she could  _sort of_  read, but other than that it was tough luck for her.

"We need a game plan."

Everyone looked up.

Daren shifted in his spot, twiddling his thumbs. "I think we legit need a game plan. We almost got ourselves fucked today by the hell hounds, so who knows what else could happen if we're unprepared?"

Takeo nodded in agreement. "A plan sounds good. And perhaps we should stick to a specific set of... squads..."

Vivian snorted as he used the word. It wasn't that it was unbecoming of him, but it was funny to hear a man from the early 1900's using a somewhat modern term.

"I agree." Tank concurred. "We should stick with a group, one that evens out the others' weaknesses and works well with their strengths. That way, we're less likely to get killed."

Everyone suddenly looked to Vivian, who instantly stopped mid-sip. She looked around at the group for a few moments before setting down her canteen. "What're y'all looking at me for, eh?"

"You're the planner, here." Said Scott. "I'm the strategist. You also know these g-"

Daren instantly jabbed Scott in his ribs, making him yelp in surprise. This did not go unnoticed by Primis, of course. "You know everyone's strengths and weaknesses. Besides, you're better at grouping everyone together than we are."

Vivian huffed and she tried straightening her back, but only succeeded in making it more sore. "Ah, well..." She looked around the fire. "Okay, so, from what I've seen; Nikolai prefers to use shotguns, Takeo uses his Katana and Mauser, Daren and Scott; you're our snipers. Tank, you're the guy who uses LMG's, which I  _really_  don't understand. And Edward,"

She looked to see he hadn't even looked up from his notes. Rolling her eyes, she leaned over and closed the book, making him look up almost incredulously. "Pay attention, mate." With a sigh, she put herself back into an upright position. "And Edward normally uses assault rifles and the occasional pistol."

"What about you?"

"Okay, Daren, you've known me for  _years_ , so you should know that I'm not too picky with my guns. I love my Locus and Dingo and I  _especially_  love my Argus."

Tank scoffed and leaned back against the wall. "You can't shoot a sniper for shit."

"Shut up." She snapped. Although it was true, she really  _couldn't_  shoot a sniper for shit (the scar under her eye was proof enough of that), she wasn't about to admit that. "Anyways, Tank, Takeo and Nikolai are best suited to be in a group. LMG's take  _forever_  to reload, so Nikolai can try keeping the zombies away from a slight distance. Takeo is good with close range."

"What about us?"

Vivian gestured slightly with her hand. "You're our snipers, you can probably climb something to shoot zombies at a distance. Try and keep them off our tails. And, once the hounds come around, you guys are in the clear and can help us out. We can gather in the main courtyard."

Edward gave her a slight look and she looked back at him. "Don't gimme that face. I was planning on having you run on your own and I-"

"And have you mauled again?" He shook his head. " _Nein_. You are my top priority as a patient."

She shrugged. "Your funeral, mate."

Nikolai suddenly let out a big yawn and Vivian held back a laugh. "Maybe we should call it in for the night. We can plan things out more tomorrow and then one more night of rest before we have to go out and face the zombies. Alright?"

As everyone tucked themselves in for the evening, Vivian struggled to find a good position for herself to sleep in (if she got any sleep at all). It was difficult to sleep with First and Second degree burns on your back and neck as well as a vicious dog bite on your neck. She normally slept on her stomach, but even sleeping in that position was hard on her neck.

So, she resorted to sleeping on her side with her arm as a form of a pillow.

Of course, everyone else seemed to be getting to sleep a lot sooner than she (even Daren, which was surprising, considering he also had a hard time sleeping). It wasn't just her injuries or her insomnia, it was just the major wake-up call that she had gotten when the demon dog had almost mauled her to death.

Looking around to make sure everyone was asleep, Vivian got up and went outside, not caring that she was only in a shirt and pants and boots (it wasn't  _that_  cold; it wasn't even winter yet).

Wrapping her arms around herself, Vivian slowly walked around The Giant, taking in every little bit of the area. The smell of frost and snow in the air, the smell of death, rust and decay. Her breath coming out in thick white puffs, heat mixing in with cold air. As she walked along the cold brick walls, she touched the walls with her fingertips, her nails softly clicking against the rough stone. The small crackles of electricity from the various devices and electrical wires, the sound of her boots crunching the snow underneath her, making brand new fresh tracks.

The sounds of the zombies wandering around outside. Always there, always watching.

This was Sam's world, not hers. This she knew, but she still had a hard time accepting, despite being in that realm for over two years.

As she went into the main courtyard, she looked to the large Teleporter, shaking her head in disbelief. This is your reality now, she thought, not your fiction. You can actually get hurt if you make mistakes and, there is no second chances. Not as far as she knew, anyhow, considering not all of them have died yet. However, she didn't wish to test that theory very much.

She went into the animal testing labs, where the cool air seemed to be kept at bay. She heard the droplets of water coming from the pipes, dripping to the floor with tiny  _plips_ , forming small puddles. Blood stained the floors and the kennels, the stench of death and decay very apparent here, and not because of the undead that had roamed this area. It was from the many creatures that had died because of Richtofen's experiments. Now that Vivian actually stood in that room, fully contemplating and thinking about it, only then could she truly feel how  _dark_  it was. She went over to the chalkboards, inspecting the various equations and diagrams. She did not understand any of it, but it was amazing at how people actually wrote like that and understood what they were writing.

She walked up the stairs, her hand on the rusted railing. Surprisingly, nothing came off of the railing or stained her hand, but the surface was very rough. As she reached the top, the warm air of the room immediately dissipated and she was back into the cold evening air, snowflakes just beginning to fall once again. She walked across the bridge, the metal creaking softly under her weight. She moved past the generator, and into the room.

The room where she almost died.

It wasn't that Vivian was afraid of death (well, she  _was_ , but that wasn't the reasoning for her current fears), but she was afraid of dying without people knowing. Sure, there would be the people here and her two best friends, but what of her loved ones? Her family?

Did they even know she was gone?

Vivian shook her head. No, she couldn't think of that. Distractions, especially now, could easily cost her life. She had to focus on the main task at hand.

Surviving.

It had been a long journey, and it was going to be longer still. There was going to be trials, lots, and there was going to be challenges that would make her question her sanity and beliefs, both moral and spiritual alike. The question was, was she going to be ready for them?

She heard something shuffle behind her and she whipped around, ready to jump on whatever was following her.

Upon seeing who it was, she growled and wrapped her arms back around herself. "Jesus, you need to learn to warn someone when you're stalking them! I could've hit you!"

Once again, it was Edward. He no doubt heard her getting up and out of the 'safehouse'. He probably didn't want her hurting herself. "Why are you out here, Vivian?"

"Why are  _you_  out here?"

Edward made a slight face before crossing his arms. "It is cold and you are injured. You should be resting."

Vivian only shrugged. "Can't sleep or rest, so may as well go for a walk. Not very many places to go anyways so getting lost won't be a problem."

Richtofen chuckled, only slightly, at her joke, lips curved upwards slightly at the corners. Vivian tilted her head to the side, a small grin of her own on her face. "You need to smile more often, mate. And laugh. Laughter is good for the soul."

In an instant, his grin was gone and he raised an eyebrow at her. "And how can one laugh in times such as these?"

She snorted. "Look at me and my friends; if it wasn't for laughter, we'd either be dead by now or we'd have shot each other ages ago. Laughter keeps friends and people together and reminds us to actually  _live_. And smiling just keeps you healthy, in a way. Mentally. Also keeps you from being a grumpy son of a bitch. Like Tank."

This time, Edward laughed. Quietly, but it was still laughter (and she prided herself on being able to make a seemingly stoic man laugh). " _Ein herz aus gold_. How you are able to keep such high spirits is beyond me."

Vivian's smile disappeared and the joy from her eyes was gone, to which Richtofen frowned slightly. She shrugged. "Even hearts of gold can lose their shine, Eddie."

For a few moments, they looked each other in the eyes, dark chocolate meeting with lapis blue ones, pure silence filling the air. Snow fell from the roof, the wind blew, moisture dripped from the pipes. For a brief moment, her statement was lost on him.

Then he understood.

Richtofen approached Vivian, slowly, almost cautiously. "You say that,  _fraulein_ Vivian, and yet from what I have seen, it has not, as you say, 'lost its shine'. You are still kind,  _ja_? And compassionate."

"Not good traits to have, I don't think. Not now, anyways."

He came to stand just in front of her and he took note of her sudden shift in behaviour. She seemed uncomfortable with his proximity, but if she truly was disturbed, she would move. "And I beg to differ. Your traits of kindness and compassion make you who you are. Without those, who are you?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I dunno. I'm still a person?"

He nodded. " _Ja_ , but are you still Vivian? Without your personality, you are indeed just a person. You keep your personality, you keep who you are."

Vivian's eyebrows raised slightly and she nodded thoughtfully. "True. I never actually thought about it like that before. Thanks, mate."

Richtofen gave her a small smile before gesturing his head towards the door. "We should get back, yes? We shouldn't stand out here for too long, lest we get a cold."

She laughed, then. "I'm a Canadian; we're  _built_  for the cold." Despite her statement, she followed Edward out of the small room and back out into the cold, snowy air.

"While you are here, and not under constant danger of the  _Untoten_ , I have a question."

"Shoot."

"You keep calling me a name. 'Mate'. What is the meaning of that name?"

Vivian snorted. "Oh, I knew a fair amount of people from Britain and their slang sort of rubbed off on me. If I hang around people long enough, their slang and terms can often develop itself into my own language. It's a habit of speech. The word 'mate' is sort of a slang term, which is kind of like saying 'buddy', or 'friend' or 'pal'; those kinds of words."

"I see."

"Okay, now my turn," She looked up at him, a small look of confusion on her face. "You keep calling me ' _fraulein_ ' which, as far as I know, is a German honorific. However, although I am unmarried I am not German."

"The term ' _fräulein_ ' can be used for a woman who is not German. And it is, as you say, a 'habit of speech'."

As they walked back to the safehouse, they continued to ask questions about each others cultures. He was more interested purely because her culture sounded different from his, and she was more interested due to German history.

An unlikely friendship, most would think, but a good start to one.

/ / /

Tank had been the first to wake up, of course. Not only was he a military man, but he was also paranoid. The undead flesh eaters had definitely taken a toll on his ability to sleep.

The hole in the roof gave off enough light from the sun for him to see. Everyone else was still asleep (well, Takeo was just beginning to wake up), including Vivian and Richtofen, which was shocking.

Just as shocking as the position they were both in.

It seemed like they had been a couple of night owls, judging from their positions at the desk. Several notes and papers were on the desk and on the floor. Richtofen was sitting on a wooden chair, leaning back heavily against it. His one arm was crossed over his stomach and the other hanged loosely at his side, and Tank could hear the faintest of snores coming from him. Vivian had been sitting on a wooden stool and she had fallen asleep with her face on the desk with her two arms outstretched in front of her, one hand was holding onto a calligraphy pen (rather loosely, however). Her hair was also a god-awful mess, and he saw that the bandages that were on her neck were gone (Richtofen most likely changed them at some point). She was also occasionally twitching and muttering something in her sleep.

Tank quietly walked over to take a quick look at whatever they had been working on. Most of the notes were in German, most likely Richtofen's handiwork, but the ones on Vivian's side of the desk had been translated into English with almost similar looking diagrams. In the center of the desk, there was a hand gun and a diagram of the gun. Some of the notes on the diagram were in German whilst the others were in English. Looked like they were going to modify the pistol, somehow.

Tank leaned in for a better look, resting a hand on Vivian's shoulder.

The Canadian girl let out a shrill cry, grabbing at whatever was holding onto her shoulder. Shooting up from her seat, Vivian pushed Tank over, straddling his hips, one hand holding onto his wrist and the other at his throat. Realizing what had happened (and who she was attacking), she let out a low growl. "That. Fucking.  _Hurt_."

Vivian released her grip on the American and she stood up, rolling her neck and making it crack. She looked around to see that she had, indeed, woken everyone else in the room.

Richtofen had been completely rattled by the shriek that had pierce his ear and, as a result, he had startled himself awake and fell off of his chair and onto the cold stone floor. Nikolai had his KRM ready to fire and Takeo had a firm grip on his Katana. Daren and Scott looked as if they were completely unprepared, if their disheveled looks were any indication. Scott had a hand on his sniper but Daren looked more scared than anything else.

"Sorry, guys..." She muttered.

/ / /

Tank, Nikolai and Scott were out examining the area that they had already covered, discussing the best strategies in how to best survive the waves that would be coming the next morning. Daren had decided to go out and scout the area, wandering along the roofs and the walls of the facility, making sure no zombies came into the area and got the jump on them.

Takeo, Edward and Vivian were all staying back in the safehouse. Takeo and Vivian had suffered injuries and Richtofen preferred they stayed in his general area in case something started going wrong. The serum in the syringes could speed up the healing process by at least eighty-six percent, but there could still be side effects from the injuries themselves.

Vivian's back and neck were fully healed, thanks to the healing power in the serum, but the scarring caused some minor pain and Richtofen wanted to make sure that the scars didn't end up splitting and causing her to bleed.

Vivian had been drawing in her notebook again while Richtofen was currently working on something (which even Vivian couldn't guess due to the notes being written in German, once again) and Takeo was currently getting his hair combed out (seriously, he carried a comb and hairbrush in his backpack, which had shocked her). She was also surprised in how long his hair was as well; it fell far past his shoulders and, surprisingly, it was extremely well-kept. He most likely brushed it daily to keep it nice.

Takeo was about to pull his hair back into its usual bun until Vivian stopped him. "Could I do something with your hair? Please?"

The Japanese soldier paused for a moment, considering her statement, until he released his hair and sat patiently on his knees, waiting for her. With a small, excited gasp, Vivian set down her book and quickly made her way over to him. Grabbing the stool, she set it down behind him and sat on it. She gingerly stroked his hair, almost cautiously. "It's so smooth! How does it keep so well?"

"A special oil." He replied simply.

Vivian started parting his hair into three sections. "Don't worry, I'll make it into a short style so you won't get snatched up by the zombies."

Taking the farther right section, she gently pulled the section of dark hair in to the left, where she started braiding it. She made sure the braids were tight so she got all of the looser strands. "Do you have any small hair bands?"

Takeo quickly handed her some small sized hair elastics and she quickly tied off the braid. She then did the same with the section of hair on the left, only bringing it in to the right. She then braided the center section of his hair, careful as to not pull too tightly. Then, swiftly removing the small hair elastics, she formed the three braids into a single full braid. She knew that the braid wouldn't be able to hold on its own, but she might not have had much of a choice at that rate. Still she asked him, "Do you happen to have a few beads? Just curious..."

Careful as to not disrupt the hairstyle, Takeo rooted through his bag and he pulled out a small pouch. Upon looking in, she saw several Jade beads. "I was told they would be... good luck." He explained.

She took out three jade beads and put one on the end of each braid. Then, she put an elastic on the end of each section of braid, and then finally put one final elastic to hold the entire thing together. The beads ensured that the hair itself would not push the elastics off and let the hairstyle come apart. Normally, she would have put beads in the hair as she went along, but that would've taken far too much time. She just wanted to style his hair, if she had to be completely honest.

She rubbed her hands together, now satisfied with her work. "Eddie, what do you think?" She gently tilted Takeo's head to the side and Edward turned around in his seat. The German considered the hairstyle for a moment. " _Ja_ , it looks good. Very... formal."

For a moment Vivian paused, giving the man an odd look. Was that a jab at Takeo or a compliment on her hairstyling abilities?

The door to the safehouse opened and they looked to see that the rest of the boys were returning, with a slightly disheveled-looking Daren. "What happened?" Asked Vivian, knowing that something probably  _did_  happen.

"Nothing."

"He slipped on some ice and fell off the roof."

Daren gave Scott a deathly glare.

Richtofen stood from his seat. "Did he harm himself?"

Daren waved his hand dismissively. "I'm fine, just got a sore butt."

"You landed on your arse?" Vivian snorted. " _That's_  gonna hurt later. Y'know, if you want to be patrolling, you also have to watch where the hell you're going."

"Shut up!" He snapped. "It was just the once, it probably won't happen again."

Scott began to laugh at his statement. "' _Probably_ ', being the key word!"

The three Canadians laughed and Tank simply shook his head. The one thing he was now going to hate, once again, was the constant joking from the Canadians. There wasn't too much laughter from them when they had been traveling around Germany for two years, but now that they were fighting zombies again, the jokes were starting to roll in and Tank's patience was rolling out.

Vivian moved away from Takeo, allowing the man to stand, and she rolled her shoulders. "So, what did y'all find? Anything interesting?"

Nikolai set his shotgun against the wall and he removed his helmet, running a hand through his chocolate brown locks to fluff it back up. "Nothing useful,  _nemnogo mishka_. We cannot do much beyond sticking together, as we had done before."

"Doesn't mean we can't strategize, though." Scott said. "We can still make a plan. I mean, we have our squads. All we need to do is plan out a decent form of communication, fallback plans and the best way to execute the plans."

"We also need to find a better way to defend ourselves against the Hell Hounds," Daren quickly added.

Vivian then added along with them, "And we need to communicate the plan to get out of here. I've already talked with Richtofen about it, but the rest of you guys really don't know how this is supposed to go."

"Then explain it to us, Blue." Tank said. "Because we only have a few hours until dusk and we need rest for tomorrow."

Vivian sighed and rolled her eyes. It took a while to explain to Richtofen but it would probably take longer to explain it to everyone else since they'd probably have more questions about her plans. But, she had to do what she had to do.

/ / /

Once more, night had fallen on The Giant and again, everyone was asleep. Aside from three people, of course.

Daren had volunteered to go and act as their 'patrol', since he himself could not sleep very well. Although there wasn't too great of a need for one, it was a good extra measure in case something bad was coming or actually did happen.

The there was Edward and Vivian. They both were generally night owls, Edward because he was a scientist and preferred to work on his experiments and theories during the evenings (when it was most quiet) and Vivian because insomnia had always been a factor in her bad sleeping habits.

As of now, they had both been trying to theorize the 'power ups' that Samantha gave them. Why she gave them, what sort of material were they really made of, if they weren't some figment of their imaginations, and how they initially worked.

"Okay, but the weird thing is, power ups only come around after a zombie is killed. Why is that? Why not just make one appear at random?"

"Perhaps she is making us work for it?"

"She makes us work for every other damn thing, why not just make our lives a bit easier?"

Richtofen gave her a look and she shrugged. "Okay, forget I said that. But seriously, why are power-ups even a thing?"

The German set down the calligraphy pen and sighed. "As I had said before, she believes this to be some sort of game. It's her way of playing. And we play along by going with her rules."

"What if we break the rules? What can she do really?"

" _Everything_." Richtofen hissed, trying his best to keep his voice down lest he disturb the others. "She is like a god, here. She can do anything and everything and, if we do something she does not like, we can suffer consequences."

Vivian considered this a moment. It made sense, considering that although she was the Demonic Announcer, she was still a kid. If they did something she didn't like, she could throw a tantrum. She brought her hand up and rested her chin against it, her elbow resting atop the desk, thinking heavily on Samantha and her behaviour. "Okay, so basically, if we do something she doesn't like, she'll throw a tantrum?"

He nodded once. "For lack of better words, yes."

"So let me get this straight; if I'm understanding you correctly, she still has behavioural patterns of a child. And yet she is in the body of a demon, or the demon is in her body? But she still has a consciousness of a person, of herself, and-" She gave Edward a look and then she snapped her fingers at him, to which he suddenly snapped out of his thoughts. "Am I boring you?" She asked.

He shook his head. " _Nein_ , I am just..." His blue eyes darted down to her wrist. "There are new ones."

Vivian suddenly set her wrist down on the desk and she rolled her eyes. "It was the Hound." She stated. "His claws got on my arm."

He raised an eyebrow at her in a condescending manner. "And why did you not tell me of this? It could have been infected and caused you to become sick."

"But it didn't." She countered. "I've suffered worse injuries and have been fine."

"Which injuries? The ones caused by your environment, or the ones caused by yourself?"

For a moment, Vivian looked as if she would shoot him then and there. He knew he was poking a lion when he had spoken, but he also knew that she had to come around at some point. He had seen first hand what could happen when situations such as this were left alone, and most of the time, the results could often be fatal. He had not known her for long, but he had known her long enough to feel strongly about her situation.

Her rage, her sudden hate, was gone as quickly as it came, and was replaced with sorrow. She sighed, defeated, and she leaned heavily on the desk. "Look, my problems have been just that; mine. I'm not used to people directly asking about my scars or actually confronting me about them. At all, actually."

"And as I had said in France," He chided her, "Mental well-being is as important as physical well-being. If you do not talk about it, it could fester."

"Even if you do talk about things, cutting can still be a factor in your life. Depression does that to you, mate."

There was a heavy silence that passed between them. Vivian was silent, waiting for the judgement from him. Richtofen was silent, because he was contemplating the best way to go about this. She knew that she had a problem and even acknowledged it as one, so she was aware of what she was doing, which was good. However, her mental state was fragile and her pride was great; if he wounded both, it could spell trouble for them and their relationship, as well as trouble for the rest of the team.

So, he chose his next words carefully. "And friendship can help diminish that depression." Instinctively, as a form of comfort, Edward placed his hand over hers. "I am here, and so is Tank, or Nikolai or Takeo. Your two friends are also here. You can come to us if you need to."

Vivian couldn't help but snort. "And wound my pride further? I think not." She chuckled at herself but she then nodded in appreciation. "But... thanks, mate."

Finally, he thought. A breach, a compromise and, now, more safety was ensured for her. Now that he knew for certain of her issue with self-harm, he would be able to identify it before it actually happened. Not only did he care for her mental state, he also needed to ensure that she stayed alive. If anyone tried to, they could easily kill themselves or others and even Samantha wouldn't try to intervene with that, but Vivian needed to stay alive. For whatever reason, Samantha had brought she and her friends here and whatever reason that may have been, he needed to see to it that none of them left or died.

For the sake of a better tomorrow.


	7. Too Easy?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things almost seem a bit too easy, but none of the group take it for granted as they escape The Giant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the length of the chapter - I felt that it was getting drawn out and awkward for me to write. Next chapters will be better, I promise!

Although it was sunrise, Samantha had not sent in the zombies. Feeling on edge, Scott and Daren decided to patrol around The Giant, checking to make sure that there wasn't a horde of zombies nearby.

Although they had taken the high ground, they weren't going to be paying much attention to the inside, so Richtofen and Dempsey had both volunteered to patrol the inside of The Giant, on the ground, making sure that there weren't any zombies trying to sneak in that way.

Takeo and Vivian, both of which were just starting to have their wounds completely healed, were basically forced to stay back at the safehouse no thanks to Edward. He insisted they stay, with Nikolai there as a 'bodyguard' in case a zombie somehow made it in.

Although he seemed pretty calm, Daren still had a bit of an idea as to why Tank might've volunteered to patrol along with Edward. He didn't know what was going on between the two, but he'd rather let sleeping dogs lie and not get involved with their rivalry. If there  _was_  an issue, they'd sort it out themselves.

Daren brushed at the snow in his dark, wavy hair, wiping his hand off on his pants. He either needed to get his hair cut, or he needed a hat of some kind to keep the snow out of it. It wasn't  _overly_  long, as he tried his best to keep it cut while they had been traveling around Germany, but it was long enough. The same went with Scott; his hair had gotten longer than he'd normally allow it, but he used a knife to keep it as short as possible. With the mix of slightly uneven dark blonde hair as well as the stubble on his face, he could've easily passed as a stereotypical surfer.

He brushed at the peach fuzz over his top lip, laughing quietly to himself. Now that he thought about it, all of the men, including him and Scott, had facial hair. Well, they really didn't have any tools to shave with other than knives (which they made sure were extra sharp), but it was still kind of funny. Kind of.

"What's so funny?"

Daren looked to see that Scott was making his way towards him and he just shrugged. "Nothing, really. Just... all the guys have facial hair. I dunno why, but that's just funny to me."

Scott chuckled and he looked out into the distance. "Nothing on your end?"

"No, not really. A few stragglers, but they aren't making their way towards this place."

Scott shuddered and his grip tightened around his sniper. "I don't like it. Normally the zombies would come out in the daytime."

"Well, we gotta remember, 'The Giant' was a night-time setting."

"So?"

"So wouldn't that mean that the zombies will only come out at night?"

Scott paused for a moment, considering his words. His brows furrowed. "Wait, when did you first think about this?"

Daren shrugged. "A while ago."

"And you didn't mention it to me?"

He raised his hands exasperatedly, an incredulous look on his face. "I didn't think it was important! I just needed something to do!"

They heard distant laughter and they looked to see Richtofen and Dempsey checking the area around the main teleporter in the courtyard. Richtofen was the one who was laughing while tying the broken chain fence together, most likely so the zombies had one less way of getting in. It looked like they seemed to be getting along, although Tank  _did_  look a bit peeved. Well, at least they weren't killing each other, that was the important part.

Whatever else they were saying to one another was lost as they were too far to even hear anything. Dare nodded his head to them, "Do you think that maybe their rivalry is what got them stuck in France for so long?"

Scott shrugged. "Maybe. But, I don't think they even really have a rivalry. I mean, in the game they had some kinda passive aggressive banter but that's it. It's not like the one-point-ohs; now  _they_  had a rivalry going."

"True."

Daren, feeling the chill of the air starting to get to him, zipped up his leather jacket and pulled on his leather gloves. He then pulled his grey scarf over his mouth (as he had found that, when it was chilly, his breath could often get in the way of his sight and fog up the scope). "Well, I'm getting back to it. One more walk around the place and we should probably be good."

Scott nodded and quickly zipped up his own jacket. Once Daren actually thought about it, they were all pretty lucky to have found the clothes necessary to 'brave the elements', as Vivian had once put it.

Granted, some of the clothing was taken from corpses, but occasionally they found an abandoned town and was able to loot it. Daren was able to find workers' boots for himself and Scott had found some good winter boots. Vivian had been wearing the same leather biker boots they had looted from a town almost a week after they were teleported to Germany, so shoes wasn't a problem for her. She also had been wearing the same pair of jeans (as she refused to wear pants from a corpse and, most women's bottoms were skirts and the men's pants were too big when they looted the towns) and she had managed to find some decent tops. She actually managed to find a leather jacket for herself (and, to this day, Daren  _still_  didn't understand why she loved leather; if it was hot, you were hot and vice versa with the cold), as well as a denim jacket (which he also didn't understand, since that didn't block out the cold too well). Thankfully, for her, those two jackets hadn't been burned when the Hell Hound had grabbed her. Daren had to carry both in his own pack as she ran out of room in hers (which was a makeshift pack, once he thought about it - it had just been a large pillow case).

The others; Takeo, Nikolai, Richtofen and Dempsey, hadn't changed their own clothes, which was strange. Takeo wasn't even bothering with a sweater or anything and how the Japanese man wasn't cold was beyond him. Nikolai was dressed for a mild blizzard, Tank was more than ready for the winter and Richtofen looked more ready for a jungle expedition than anything. Well, it was their choice, but they still had some spare clothing in case they needed it.

Yeah, they were lucky to find the clothing.

With a final nod, Scott and Daren passed each other to do one more walk around. Hopefully, they wouldn't find anything.

Knock on wood.

/ / /

They had been patrolling in silence for the majority of their time, but Richtofen knew that Dempsey had  _something_  to say to him. He didn't know what, but he would most likely find out soon enough.

The German scientist knew that Tank had some sort of vendetta against him, and he knew it was most likely because of his counterpart. He did not blame the man, but he needed to learn that just because his counterpart was evil, didn't mean that he was. Sure, he had done some questionable things, but it was all for the sake of a better tomorrow. For the sake of a better future.

For the children.

"Don't think I don't know what you're up to."

Richtofen pulled out the thick twine from the pouch on his belt and he unraveled it, briefly looking to Dempsey before turning his attention back to the chainlink fence. If they got this patched up, the zombies would have to find a different way in. Less zombies was a good thing. "I am afraid I do not know what you're talking about."

"Cut the shit." Tank snapped. "Don't pretend you don't know, Richtofen."

He sighed as he pulled the string through the fence, starting off in a zig-zag formation. "Again, I am afraid I don't know. Care to tell me what you think I am doing?"

The American was getting angry, but he didn't care much for it. Sure, the man could break his neck but he knew that Tank knew that the group needed him, whether he liked it or not.

"I know that you have some sort of little agenda that you're keeping from us," He said, "And I know you're trying to suck Blue into it."

Richtofen suddenly laughed, as if Dempsey had just told him a joke; he finally knew why Tank was suddenly so distrustful of him, and to Edward, it was actually funny. Tying off the twine and cutting the end with his knife, he turned to the American. "Vivian? Is that what this is about, Dempsey?"

"No, it's about you." He took one step towards Richtofen, but the man didn't back away. "You've been all over her since you came back through that teleporter, trying to gain her trust by flirting with her."

Richtofen raised an eyebrow at that and the corner of his lips quirked. "I am a doctor, Dempsey; after her injury, I need to be near her. I hardly call that flirting."

"Don't pretend to be stupid; I saw you holding her hand last night."

Immediately, the Doctors' face fell and Tank then had a smug grin of his own, believing that he had caught him, and he crossed his arms. "Yeah, I saw that."

Richtofen was stunned for a few more brief moments before he gently shook his head. " _Nein_ , what I did was to comfort her, not flirt with her."

"And why would she need that?"

The man was jealous, for whatever reason. Edward didn't understand why, however, as from what he had seen they weren't romantically involved in any shape or form. However, despite his burning need to clarify his actions, it was not his place to tell Dempsey about Vivian's  _situation_. "She was in need of emotional support. That is all that it was."

Tank uncrossed his arms and he glared at the German. "Better have been. 'Cause if I find out that you have been trying to turn her against us, you better watch your ass!"

Before he could respond, Tank turned and stormed off to the safehouse. Richtofen shook his head and pulled the twine out once more. Another weave should make it a lot more sturdier...

/ / /

"How do you know so much of my language?"

Vivian snorted as she wrote in her notebook. "Nikolai, I hardly call a single word and a phrase 'a lot' of your language. The same goes for you, Takeo. I only learn the basics of most languages."

Nikolai raised his eyebrows slightly. "Still, how you know any of our languages is extraordinary! Not many care to learn, Vivian."

She shrugged. "I liked to research stuff for other things in my spare time; languages included. Where I come from, it would go a long way to know even just the words 'hello' or 'goodbye'."

Both Nikolai and Takeo nodded in understanding. They were both still shocked that someone, especially a woman, was educated (even if only slightly) in other languages and the cultures behind those languages.

Vivian looked up and, about to say something else, could only chuckle as she saw Nikolai gently running his fingers over Takeo's hair (which was still miraculously in its braid). She heard him mutter something in Russian and Takeo only rolled his eyes. "Y'know, Nik, if you wanted me to trim your hair, I can. Like, I don't have much experience, but I have enough."

He gave her a warning look (in a joking manner of course) and shook his head. " _Net_ , I am fine."

"Trying to grow it out?"

When he didn't respond she  _tsked_  and pointed the end of her calligraphy pen at him. "Y'know what, some day you'll just end up with something sticky in your hair and you'll have no choice but to let me cut it! I'm not the best hair-cutter, but I'm alright."

Takeo couldn't help but chuckle. "You seem to have a great deal of skills. Just what else are you able to do?"

Before she could respond, the door to the safehouse practically slammed open (seemingly in a passive aggressive manner), and everyone looked to see Tank (an angry looking Tank) storming into the safehouse. "Everything alright, mate?"

He didn't respond.

"Hon?"

Tank removed the pistol from his belt, removing the magazine and quickly setting it on the desk, and went into the 'storage' room and Vivian immediately sighed. Removing the remaining ink off her pen with a cloth and closing the jar of ink, the Canadian stood and followed after Dempsey, hoping to get to the bottom of whatever was upsetting him. It was most likely Richtofen, but she wanted to know what it was that they argued about.

This was a habit of his; he'd sometimes take apart a gun and clean the various parts before putting them back together. A habit, one he often did whenever he needed to be left alone or was angry at something. Or someone. Sometimes he did it just to think. Sometimes, it was a little mix of everything.

Vivian opened the door to see that Dempsey was already taking apart his pistol, leaning against a table and setting aside the various parts. She didn't know the names of the parts, but she sort of knew what made which part of the gun. "Tank, mate, what's up."

"Nothing."

"Uh huh, sure, nothing." She sarcastically replied. She then crossed her arms. "What did you and Eddie argue about?"

He took a cloth out from his pocket and started cleaning the pistol (or rather, the skeleton of it, really). "We didn't argue about anything, Blue. And don't call him 'Eddie'."

Jealousy alert, she thought. She never thought that this version of Edward and Tank would have a rivalry like their counterparts did, but then she realized that it was most likely because of her that he was now only slightly more hostile towards the German. It made sense, but it was still somewhat childish. "Sounds like you  _did_  argue about something, that something being me. Look, Edward is a good man. Wrong actions, but good intentions. There's no need for you to get so jeal-"

He set his gun down, hard, onto the desk and she silenced herself. Should've worded myself better, she thought. "I'm not jealous." He spoke through gritted teeth.

She raised an eyebrow and leaned against the desk (only slightly further from him). "Then why are you acting this way?"

Once again, the American didn't respond and she scoffed. "You know what? Forget it." She removed herself from the desk. "I'll talk to you once you stop acting like a child."

She turned to leave, intending to leave him to his own thoughts, but he held her back by her wrist, making her look at him incredulously. "Excuse you?"

Tank let go of her wrist immediately and rubbed at the back of his neck. Normally, she would leave, but she could tell he had something to say. He was a 'tough guy', as many would put it, and not normally someone who would openly talk about his feelings or emotions. She just had to be patient with him. "Look it's... I'm just... worried about you, is all."

"Oh?"

"Look, Blue; you're... kind and caring. And trusting. I just don't want you getting hurt."

She shook her head. "Eddie isn't manipulative. His counterpart? Most definitely, but our Edward Richtofen is not as deranged as him. He has his moments, but he's still a good man."

Tank nodded. "Yeah. But still, if he does  _anything_  to hurt you-"

"You'll be the first to know." She patted his shoulder. "Thanks, hon."

He nodded and returned to cleaning his pistol and she left him, now a bit more at ease in knowing what was disturbing him. Could've still been jealousy, it was more than likely, but at least she knew for certain what else was making him defensive.

It was understandable.

/ / /

Once everyone was back at the safehouse, they continued to plan what they should do in case the zombies did come back in the evening.

"It should be pretty easy," She explained, "Getting the last of the blueprint pieces. So should playing 'Hide and Seek' with Samantha, and activating the Riese. If things go well, we should be able to get these things done tonight! Knock on wood."

"What about the radios?"

She shrugged. "Daren, I don't even know where any of them are, and I personally don't think they're important."

"What about hell dogs?" Nikolai asked her. "I do not wish to see anyone die because of those beasts."

She shrugged again. "We do what we planned earlier. That's all we really  _can_  do."

"Another thing we should focus on is Wonder Weapons," Scott suggested. "I already have the Ray gun, and someone should have the Wonder Waffle, doesn't matter who."

He heard Vivian snicker and he looked. "What?"

"I don't think they know what the 'Wonder Waffle' is." She then chuckled. "They know what the  _Wunderwaffe_  is, though."

Edward looked to Vivian, then to Scott. "'Wonder Waffle'?"

Scott waved his hand dismissively. "Never mind.  _Anyways_ , if we all get some sort of wonder weapon, or if we just have good guns, we should be fine. Along with the Monkeys, and if we all have them then-"

Tank held up his hand to stop him. "Hold on, doesn't anyone else think this all seems a bit too easy, or is it just me?"

Vivian instantly rapped her knuckles against the wooden desk that she was sitting on. "Knock on wood, mate! Take what you get, don't complain or Samantha might get a few ideas. Besides, do you  _want_  things to be complicated after France?"

"No."

"Then shut up. Or the next thing we know, there's gonna be  _Hundesoldat_  or whatever the word is."

She saw an almost mischievous gleam in Richofen's eyes and she pointed in a scolding manner. " _No_ , bad idea! If we have hell hounds mixed with mechanical armor, we're  _for sure_  set to have our lives fucked up!"

There was a loud thunderclap and even without the prompt from Samantha, everyone was up and moving around, grabbing their guns and whatever else they needed for the battle ahead. Vivian did her best to try and get her leather jacket on without hurting herself. Although the wounds were healed, the scars still stretched and ached, along with her muscles and joints. Once she got moving around, she would be fine of course, but she just needed to be careful.

Everyone quickly filed out the door and, getting into their respective groups, split up and set off to do what they did best.

"Remember to meet in the courtyard if the hounds come around!" Vivian shouted.

/ / /

Samantha cackled in mockery and Vivian kicked at the box as it floated away and she desperately hoped it spawned just outside Teleporter C, near the power switch, so she wouldn't have to walk all the way across the map again. "The box  _hates me_!"

Richtofen, who had been leaning against the wall, held back a laugh. "And you hate the box."

"Fair enough."

Vivian had been trying for several rounds to get the  _Wunderwaffe_  or the Cymbal Monkeys, and she had not had any luck. After nearly getting downed by a horde of Zombies, Richtofen actually had to remind her to get her Perks to prevent any further complications.

The plan that they had was running fairly smooth, however; all the papers for the blueprints had been found, all Teleporters were active, the  _Riese_  had been activated (thanks to Takeo getting the Monkeys) and uncovered the hidden perk machine, and everyone nearly had enough points to get at least one Pack-a-Punched gun, including Vivian. She had intended to save the points for when she got the  _Waffe_ , but at this rate she was better off with getting her SVG Packed.

She looked around and, seeing that there were no zombies around them, Vivian blew a bubble and the gobblegum disintegrated in her mouth, leaving a light flavour of grapes on her tongue, as a Blood Money power up spawned in front of her. "Okay, one thing I want to point out is that it looks like it's made of gold. Why that colour or material?"

Richtofen studied the item carefully. "Well, it certainly stands out. But why does Sam not simply gift these... power ups, instead of making a physical item representing it?"

She shrugged. "I know, eh? Like, maybe she just wants us to work for it, like she does everything else. Like you keep saying, it's a game to her."

The item started blinking and Vivian rolled her eyes. "We get it." She muttered.

She slowly reached her hand out, seeing just how close her hand could get before the item disappeared. As her fingertips neared, she could feel a faint but cold aura, like she was putting her hand near ice. Just when she thought she was going to touch it, it disappeared, and Samantha's voice boomed across The Giant (which wasn't normal to her, considering that Samantha never did call outs for Blood Money in game). Vivian shivered and absent mindedly rubbed her hand on her shirt, like she had touched something dirty.

"And?"

She shrugged. "Not much, other than it was cold. So, it's possible that it is made of a metal material."

Richtofen's brows furrowed. "Interesting..."

Vivian's eyes strayed to outside the large room to see the familiar blue beam of light by the power switch and she breathed a small sigh of relief. "Okay, we don't have to go too far for the box, then."

Without another word, Richtofen suddenly jumped from the balcony, landing gracefully on his feet. She looked down and her face deadpanned. "Meanwhile, I'm taking the stairs."

Normally she would have jumped down with him but she wasn't in too grand of shape to be pulling off any jumps or stunts, so she was doing the more practical ways of getting around. She also had a heavy sniper on her back so she didn't want to end up falling backwards from the weight and hurting herself further.

As the Canadian sped down the stairs, Edward waited patiently for her. Once she reached the bottom of the stairs, she rubbed at her thigh, which was suddenly sore. "I'm not even close to thirty and I already feel old." She muttered.

The German chuckled, if only slightly. "Times such as these can do that to you."

She patted his shoulder. "Truer words were never spoken."

As the two approached the box, they both couldn't help but notice how the weather began to shift slightly, the air suddenly becoming warmer and the fog slowly starting to appear. Before Edward could even touch the box, Vivian grabbed at his arm. "Eddie... I got a bad feeling."

Once he paused, taking a moment to listen and feel the area around him, only then did he feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand at attention and something clenched tight to his heart and stomach. Nodding in agreement, he gently ushered Vivian towards the courtyard, near the mainframe, and she needed no further urging.

No sooner then they had walked through the gate leading into the courtyard, where Takeo, Tank and Nikolai were already waiting, Samantha shouted, ' _Fetch me their souls_!'.

Vivian looked up to see Scott and Daren crouching on the wall, aiming their snipers and ready to fire. Vivian got her Argus ready and Richtofen pulled out his Ray Gun, to which she did a double take. "And when the fuck did you get that thing?!"

He shrugged. "A while ago."

Everyone gathered on top of the platform, in front of the Pack-a-Punch. Hell Hounds, for whatever reason, could jump down, but they couldn't seem to jump  _up_. This was a good thing, because that way the hounds only had one way of reaching them on the platform and that was by going up the stairs.

Everyone waited, on edge, their trigger fingers starting to become itchy. The first hound started to make an appearance, the lightning beginning to crackle on the ground. The bolts of electricity increased in intensity, and then it finally spawned in, immediately making a bee line for the stairway. Before any of them could react, Daren fired his Locus at the creature, instantly making it combust.

That is when all hell broke loose.

Without warning, several hell hounds started to spawn in, either far from them, or right in the courtyard. Either way, no matter where they came from, they were barely giving anyone on the ground enough time to fire at them or to even reload. There was starting to become one too many close calls for Vivian's liking and, judging from the looks on everyone else's face, she wasn't the only one who felt that way.

Vivian fired her Argus, only to hear a clicking sound. With a growl, Vivian set the shotgun aside and quickly pulled out her SVG, aiming down the ELO sights. The last time she had fired a sniper, it hadn't gone too well. Her aim was off and although her grip was strong, the recoil on the sniper took her by surprise and she had ended up with a cut underneath her right eye and a dislocated shoulder. The SVG had the worst recoil, but it was the only sniper that she had received from the Mystery Box, so she took it.

Taking a deep breath, she steadied her aim and quickly pulled the trigger. Once again, the recoil had taken her by surprise and the pressure from it nearly knocked the weapon out of her hands. Gritting her teeth, she tightened her grip and got down onto one knee, resting her elbow slightly on her leg to help steady the weapon.

Once everyone started getting a slight rhythm, their shots were a lot more precise as well as timed. Although the amount of hell hounds was shocking, they were beginning to handle themselves a lot better

There was a sudden large pause and everyone physically eased themselves, taking their time in reloading their guns. "Where's the last one?" Tank asked.

They heard a sniper shot and looked to see that the Hound had been sneaking around the courtyard, judging from where they could see the Max Ammo power up. As the fog slowly lifted, Vivian gently nudged her way between the men and presented her SVG to the Pack-a-Punch. An invisible force pulled the sniper in and, after waiting for a few moments, slowly eased it back out. Vivian took it and cocked the weapon, aiming down the sights for a brief moment. "Nice!"

Nikolai, who had jumped from the platform, grabbed the Max Ammo and looked to the rest of the group. "Shall we gather back into squads?"

Vivian hesitated. "Well, yes and no. See, now that we have something Packed, we can start playing 'hide and seek' with Samantha. It's just three objects and are easy to find. One is in an empty furnace, another on the balconies, and the other in the boiler room. Not that hard."

The cries of the damned could be heard and everyone quickly grouped back up. Vivian whistled sharply, catching Scott and Daren's attention. "Scott, go with tank to the boiler room! Help him look for a teddy in one of the boilers! We'll all meet back in the courtyard once all the objects are found!"

Scott nodded and quickly made his way down from the wall and Daren continued to snipe the incoming zombies from the top parts of The Giant.

Richtofen fired at zombies that were trying to grab Vivian and she dodged between the ones he hadn't shot, making her way to the entrance to the Testing Labs. "Keep them off me for a bit!" She exclaimed. Aiming her SVG, she carefully aimed at the console at the far back of the area. Holding her breath, she pulled the trigger.

And missed by a mile.

So, she tried again. And again and again. For whatever reason, she couldn't shoot the damn thing! She growled in frustration and reloaded her sniper. "Fuck this shit, man!"

Edward gently touched her arm and she handed him the sniper without another word. The German aimed down the sights and instantly pulled the trigger, hitting the console dead-on. Handing her the sniper back, he watched in fascination as the shimmering objects spun around and around.

' _I want to play a game..._ ', they heard Maxis, or rather, the voice of Maxis. His spirit. ' _Let's play Hide and Seek. Those were her exact words._ '.

When Edward turned, he was met with a very-pissed looking Vivian. "How the hell did you shoot the thing so smoothly?!"

Edward gave her a small chuckle. "Perhaps, when we have the time, I can teach you."

She nodded and then gestured with her hand. "One object is this way."

They both made their way through a horde of zombies, creating a pile of corpses just outside the doorway, and then they got into the teleporter room past the animal testing labs. Edward did his best to keep the zombies off of Vivian as she knelt down and looked inside the empty, unlit furnace. Aiming her pistol, she fired a round at the monkey and a small wind blew at her hair.

' _Yay, you found one. I can hear her, even now..._ '

Vivian frowned slightly and she got back up onto her feet. He sounded so sad, she thought. He must truly miss his daughter. His  _real_  daughter; not the Demonic Announcer that she is now. If it wasn't for Richtofen, that family would never have been broken.

Perhaps that's why Primis Richtofen had changed time. Of course, she knew it was for a 'better tomorrow', to make a safe and happy place for the children, but also because he knew that, with what they had all done and gone through, the Ultimis crew deserved happiness and a better life.

She just hoped that they would all make it.

/ / /

Scott carefully aimed his pistol and fired at the teddy bear that was inside the boiler (which was a really weird spot to have an easily burnable/meltable object in) and they heard Maxis speak once more. ' _Wow, you found another one. There must be a purpose to this..._ '.

"To get the heck out of here!" He shouted.

Tank slowly backed away from the door, watching as the last few zombies neared. Cooking a grenade, Tank tossed it away as quickly as he could. The grenade landed at the zombies' feet, killing all but one, making it into a crawler. The zombie seemed to scream more out of frustration, now, as he crawled his way towards the American, leaving a dark crimson trail behind it. "Hey, Scott, lemme' ask you something."

Scott turned and raised an eyebrow. "Sure."

"Is Blue gullible? Not ignorant, but... naive?"

His face deadpanned for a moment, not sure how to respond to the question. "Like... she doesn't have a sense of humour? If you mean something as a joke, she can take it seriously."

Tank rolled his eyes. "I mean does she tend to, you know, fall for things easily?"

Scott instantly waved his hand in a dismissive manner. "Pfft, no way! She has like, a pretty good bullshit meter. And she also can tell when she's being tricked."

"What if she's emotionally involved with someone?" Tank kick at the head of the crawling zombie as it reached out to him, stunning it for several moments as he backed away. "Like, if it was a friend or someone close?"

Scott considered the question for a moment before shrugging. "I dunno, really. Why are you even asking?"

"No reason." He replied.

"There's gotta be a reason with that kind of a question." Scott narrowed his eyes, almost threateningly. "What is it you're wanting to do, anyways?"

Suddenly realizing how he must have sounded, Tank was quick to clarify. "I don't want to hurt her! But... I'm just worried about her, is all."

"She can handle herself." He snapped. "So just... fuck off, man."

Scott, stepping over the undead crawler, practically stormed out of the boiler room, leaving behind a (somewhat) frustrated Tank Dempsey. The Marine sighed heavily and looked at the crawler, which was still stunned from the kick to the face. "I thought Canadians weren't supposed to be jackasses..." He muttered.

A sniper shot echoed throughout The Giant and Maxis' voice was heard once again. He sounded... excited, relieved even. ' _That's it... The beacon is lit! I know_ where _and_ when _you are!... Sooner or later, I will find you. Together, we will ensure a better future for the children._ '.

Tank was instantly confused by the man's words. The children; what children? There was kids involved in all of this?! Jesus, how much more fucked up was this going to get?

His trigger finger started to become itchy and he quickly walked out of the room. He didn't want to end up killing the last zombie again, because last time he did that, that was when those hell dogs got sent in.

And that's when Blue got hurt. Badly.

Tank smacked the railing of the bridge in frustration and then he jumped down off the ledge of the platform, making his way to the courtyard. Why was he so concerned about her anyways? She could easily take care of herself, just like Scott said.

Maybe it was just because she was a woman. It wasn't very normal to see a woman being so... capable. Most were lady like, and proper, dainty, and sometimes just plain fragile. Not Blue. She was... something else.

She was brash and fiery, always spoke her mind, she also loved getting dirty, which was something that shocked him the most (seriously, what woman would roll around in mud?). She was also very kind and caring, but also prideful and snarky. Strong (even for a woman), loyal, trusting, and damned beautiful.

"Wait, what?"

Tank, far too absorbed in his own thoughts, had failed to notice where he was going. Of course, he was going to the courtyard, but he didn't have muscle memory for the place.

Which is probably why he ran into the fence.

The chainlink fence rattled and Dempsey nearly toppled backwards. Shaking his head and then straightening out his jacket, he looked around and hoped desperately that nobody had seen that.

Snickers coming from the courtyard suggested otherwise.

"Shit."

/ / /

Vivian couldn't help but laugh when she had seen Dempsey run into the fence. She didn't know what was distracting him, but whatever it was, it distracted him enough to make him unaware of his own surroundings.

Tank Dempsey, a Corporal in the Marines, running into fences.

Once the American rounded the corner and came down the ramp, she couldn't help but poke at him a bit. "You okay? You ran into the fence pretty hard."

Everyone chuckled and Tank merely shook his head. "Just fine, thanks."

She suddenly broke out into a grin. "No of _fence_ ," She started, "But maybe you should get your eyes checked!"

Both Nikolai and Edward burst into laughter and Daren groaned loudly. "Did you just make a fucking dad joke?!" He asked, slowly breaking down into a fit of giggles.

"It was the perfect opportunity!"

Despite himself, Tank started laughing as well. "Alright, pretty good one, Blue."

Takeo, whom of which was the only one not laughing (well, Scott wasn't really laughing either, but he was smiling like an idiot), cleared his throat loudly. "Perhaps we should focus on our main goal. The items have been found, what now?"

Vivian did her best to sober herself up and she straightened out her leather jacket. "Well, we need to get out of here. And, as far as I know, the only way we're doing that, is with that thing."

She pointed to the giant robot and everyone looked to it, then immediately back to her. "How?" Tank asked.

Vivian simply shrugged. "I dunno, but that's how we're supposed to get out of here."

"I took part in creating those machines," Said Edward. "I know how some of it works. Some. It is powered by Element 115, so the energy will never run out."

"Then let's get going!" Tank exclaimed. "I don't want to be here any longer than we have to be!"

Everyone nodded in agreement and then they made their way to the other side of the courtyard, to the wall where the zombies could come in. It was strange how they were all able to work together so well, moving as a collective mind as Blue would put it, but if someone said something wrong it would be like they weren't even a group at all. Just a few knuckleheads who enjoy picking fights.

Once he thought about it, ever since Blue and her two friends arrived, there had been a lot less complications between the four of them. Back in France, they'd have a plan and would be ready to execute it. Then things would go wrong and it was more often than not that they'd get each other killed. They all had died, so many times. Tank thought he was going to go mad with how many times they had to start over!

Then Vivian, Scott and Daren came along.

Although the four of them had a good thing going, the trio of friends  _really_  knew how to get things done. They actually used each others strengths and managed to do things in a better and more efficient way. As far as weaknesses went; the only thing that could eventually throw them off was their bad-timing with their jokes. He found it hard to believe that they were still alive with how seriously they took things (and they barely did, most days).

He continued to ponder these thoughts as they approached the robot and he absentmindedly kicked at a small chunk of ice. Still, despite that they could act like a bunch of kids, they could handle themselves very well. Blue especially. She could be delicate, almost timid some days, but she could beat the hell out of anyone who crossed her! He should know; there had been more than one time where they had gotten into a fistfight. First time it had happened, she had first slapped him. Slapped him so hard he ended up flat on his back. She didn't stop there, of course! Blue crawled right on top of him and began to throw punches; not the crappy kind either, but the punches that only experienced fighters would throw. It had taken him a moment to actually start fighting back because he had been so shocked!

Something about a woman being strong enough to knock him down was enough to stun him. He liked it.

_What?_

" _Tank_!"

Once again, his distractions had costed him and he ran directly into the giant robot. Not so hard this time that he almost fell back, but enough to make him stumble.

"Second time in not even ten minutes that you've done that, mate." Vivian set a hand on his shoulder. "What's up?"

She was laughing, he saw, but she was also just as concerned as she was humoured. "Nothing." He quickly dismissed her. "Let's just get out of here."

Getting inside the robot was no issue - the bottom of the feet were open and although they weren't able to go up via teleportation, there was a series of ladders they could go up. Richtofen was able to get it started in no time and even though the robot had to elevate itself, none of them had stumbled because of the imbalance. Richtofen had said it was because of the energy in 115 that they were able to stay upright.

Although they didn't know their location, the robot seemed to. Without any sort of prompts from Richtofen, the mechanical giant made its way towards... somewhere. Tank didn't know exactly where, but they were off.

Hopefully, nothing would go wrong. Get in, get what they needed, and get out. Simple as that. Right?

Tank laughed quietly at himself. Yeah, right. If anything was simple, then everyone would be doing just about everything. With their luck, they were going to have one helluva hay-day with what they had to do.


	8. Have Fun!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt. With the rules slowly beginning to change, they experience their first complication, and the second severe injury inflicted upon one of them.

"I don't care how dire the circumstances are, I am  _never_  riding in one of those things again!"

"It was not that bad,  _fraulein_ -"

"Says the one who was fucking driving!"

Nikolai was quick to defuse the situation (although they were not volatile, like she and Tank, they could still end up getting into a fight). "We are alive and able to continue mission; that is all that matters,  _da_?"

Vivian sighed and brushed a hand through her hair. "Yeah, I guess."

They had (obviously) crashed the giant robot after one of the German soldiers had fired a Panzershrek at the giant machine. Nobody was seriously hurt, but the majority of them had been shaken up quite a bit. The scars on Vivian made her sore, but nothing too drastic.

And now, they had to travel through the snowy mountains. Thankfully, most of them had boots on so they didn't have to worry about getting cold feet (much).

She knew the robot crashed somewhere outside a small town which was just below the Castle, but she didn't know how far it all was. It was also in the mountains so the terrain could also cause them to be a bit slow (and she was literally  _praying_  that they didn't have to climb anything).

Daren rubbed at his shoulder (the one he used to try and help smash the window open). "So, how long is this going to take? Because we don't have too many rations-"

"There's a town below the mountains, remember?" Scott stated. "There's bound to be supplies down there."

Vivian shook her head. "No, the damned Germans," she turned her head to Edward quickly, "No offence, darlin," she then turned back to Scott and Daren, "probably picked the town clean for supplies. Unless they just cleared out the town and left it at that. Either way, don't get your hopes up."

"We gotta rest up, first." Tank stated. "It's getting close to day break, I reckon, and we haven't gotten any sleep."

Everyone nodded in agreement and Vivian only shook her head, but kept her mouth shut. She and Daren were the only insomniacs but Daren never complained when people needed rest (because he'd always give himself something to do in that time) but Vivian didn't enjoy it. She'd rather be moving, doing something that uses the time they have, rather than sit around.

But, everyone else wasn't like her. So she'd have to grit her teeth.

There would be no fire, since the snow had caused most of the wood in the vicinity to freeze, so everyone had to eat cold food (not that they minded, really, but warmer food would've been preferable). Once the meals were done, they had set up their tents, which was more than simple enough since the moon provided just enough light for them to see. There was a slight debate as to which tent Edward would sleep in, but Daren had offered to have him sleep with him and Scott (mainly because they were both fairly skinny compared to the others, so there would be room).

As everyone else slept (seemingly) soundly, Vivian tossed slightly in her tent, finally settling with laying on her back. The crossed her hands over her stomach and she sighed heavily. Why did it have to be so damn bright during the day?

She heard Tank stir and she looked over to see him looking at her. "Something up, Blue?"

She looked back up at the 'ceiling' of the tent and she shrugged. "Not used to sleeping during the daytime. The times I did, I had the curtains drawn to keep it dark."

"You're not used to sleeping in general."

"True."

They lied there in silence for a few moments until Tank suddenly moved closer, nearly startling her when he wrapped his arm around her. She then sighed almost contentedly as he nuzzled into her neck. "I know a way we can occupy our time..." He whispered.

This is very sudden, she thought. However, Vivian had very little room to complain as his hand slid over her thigh, almost teasingly. "Keep us  _real_  warm..."

Not fair, she thought. Whenever he got like this, he'd always use his deeper voice, hinted with a slight southern drawl. She never used to have a voice kink, until he started using that voice on her. It was damn sexy!

His fingers tugged slightly at the button on her jeans and he pulled the zipper down, slowly. Too fucking slowly. Vivian let out the quietest of whimpers and he couldn't help but chuckle. "Impatient little minx, aren't you?"

Another sudden something, she thought. He  _never_  called her little pet names whenever they got intimate (not that what they really did was intimate, but she couldn't find any other word to describe it), and it struck her as odd that he had suddenly called her a 'minx'. Maybe it's the 115 messing around with him. Then again, it really didn't effect behaviour, but rather mental state and it can create delusions and hallucinations.

Any other thoughts Vivian had on the subject was lost as his deft fingers slipped under her jeans and her body instantly quivered in response to his touch. Tank kissed at her neck, the stubble over his lip brushing against the soft flesh there, earning a breathy moan in return.

"Just enjoy yourself, baby."

/ / /

Vivian had woken up before everyone else had, surprisingly. All the better for her, in her opinion, considering the position they were in.

It was already strange enough that Tank had been acting... overly affectionate, earlier that day, but stranger still that she had woken up and they were spooning, her being the little spoon of course.

They both had their knees curled right up and he had her tight against his chest, his head resting in the crook between her neck and shoulder, arms wrapped around her almost protectively. Jesus, if someone saw them now, they'd  _so_  be getting the wrong ideas about them! Well, it was almost pitch black outside now aside from the moonlight, but if the others looked hard enough they'd be able to see them practically cuddling.

Not wanting to startle him awake, Vivian gently patted his arm. "Tank?" She whispered. "Mind scooching?"

The Marine didn't stir and she couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Tank, hon." She spoke, slightly louder. "Let go."

His arms wrapped around her tighter and he breathed a heavy sigh. "Don't want to..." He murmured. "You're warm."

"The others could see." She hissed.

Tank only shook his head. "They all went back to sleep, Blue. Decided to keep resting and then we head for the Station in the morning. Don't you remember?"

No she didn't. Probably the Element 115 leaving its effects on her, no doubt. Although she wasn't exposed to it for long, her body (along with Daren and Scott's) wasn't used to such foreign chemicals and contaminants. So, it probably took less time for it to have at least a little grasp on her mental state.

Vivian shook her head slightly. "Naw, I don't."

If they were both awake when that all happened, and then they went back to sleep, that could've only meant one thing.

"Wait, did I let you spoon me?!"

Tank chuckled at that and his grip loosened enough for her to turn around. "Mate, change of topic but I'm serious when I ask this; what is going on? You're being... affectionate, as weird as it sounds. Affection is good, but I thought we were just gonna be... y'know, friends with benefits sort of thing? You've also been pretty distracted, lately."

He immediately hesitated, unsure as to how he should explain himself. Too abrupt to be straightforward, but he also didn't want to beat around the bush and end up rambling. Didn't want to say it was nothing, or she'd  _for sure_  bug him until he fessed up, but also didn't want to end up scaring her off.

He never was too good when explaining his own emotions. His thoughts, sure, but never his emotions.

"It might... take a bit to explain."

"We got time."

Why is it that  _now_  she decides to have a bit of patience, he thought. Releasing her from his grasp, Tank sat up and brushed a hand through his slightly messy hair. "Look, you... I just... I really don't know how to say it."

Vivian sat up as well, crossing her legs underneath her. She already had a slight idea as to what was going on (most likely testosterone, she had mentally joked), but she didn't want to jump to any conclusions too quickly before she gave the American a chance to explain himself.

"Before Richtofen got back... we were fine. Everything was, is, good." He rubbed the back of his neck, one of his nervous gestures. "Once he got back, though, I just..." He quickly tried to change the topic before he ended up sounding desperate. "I've just been thinking."

She crossed her arms, her curiosity now piqued. Although Vivian still believed it was just a bit of jealousy, she still wanted to hear him out. "What about?"

"You. You're... distracting."

She laughed sightly. "I've heard that before."

He quickly shook his head. "Not in a bad way. You're just... you're damned beautiful and it's been distracting."

Vivian flinched as if she had been slapped. "Wait... Tank, what did you just say?"

Tank turned to her and he could just barely see the faint blush on her cheeks. "Don't you fucking tell me that nobody has ever called you beautiful before!" He cringed slightly as he realized that his voice had escalated slightly, not enough to wake everyone else up, but enough that if someone  _was_  awake then they'd have heard him.

"No, people have but, like, only when I'm dolled up. Hair done, makeup on, dressed up pretty, that sort of thing." She cracked her knuckles, a bad habit of hers (sometimes an anxiety habit as well). "But... if I'm understanding you right, nobody has ever called me 'beautiful' in that manner. Ever. And like... Jesus, we're in the middle of an apocalypse! I'm covered in mud, dirt and blood most days!"

For whatever reason, her heart began to race at the sudden change in conversation. She had thought it was jealousy, and sure it played a small part, but if she was hearing him correctly, there was another reason entirely why he was acting the way he had been.

She nearly flinched as his hand softly caressed her cheek, a suddenly romantic gesture. Her own hands began to shake, her heart pounding. Was she having a panic attack  _now_?!

"Don't mean a damn thing." His hand came to rest on her neck. "Still beautiful to me."

Vivian suddenly tensed as he leaned in, his head tilting to the side. In the back of her mind, she  _knew_  the meaning behind his words. But dammit, she needed to hear them! She didn't want to read into it too much, she didn't want to make a fool of herself. She  _needed_  to know.

Putting a hand on his chest, she let out a small gasp, as if she had been holding her breath. "Tank... I need to hear it."

"Hear what?"

"If you're meaning what I think you're meaning..." She took a short breath. "I need to hear you say it."

Dammit, he mentally cursed. He should've known better than to assume that she'd accept it as his 'confession'. He really did like her, but he wasn't too used to openly admitting something like that. He was used to the usual fleeting passions, not the lingering emotions he was feeling now.

He gently pressed his forehead to hers, his eyes closed, breathing steady. She waited, albeit nervously, for his response. That is, if he even had one. If he didn't, she'd know the answer to her burning question.

Gathering what courage he had, Tank took a deep, collected breath, before opening his eyes to look into hers. "Vivian, I... I like you. A lot. More than I probably should. If you don't feel the same way, that's okay."

For a brief moment, time seemed to stop. His words seemed to linger, her racing thoughts suddenly coming to a screeching halt. At first, she was almost disbelieving of his confession, but she saw the look in his eyes; he was... worried. But his eyes almost pleaded to her, showing that unspoken question.

He was being honest.

All at once, her racing heart had settled, the shaking of her hands now calmed to a slight quiver, her breathing slow and silent. She nuzzled into him gently, her one hand cupping his cheek. "I do, Tank. Like you."

He let out a quick breath and a small smile formed on his lips, a weight finally being lifted from his shoulders. "I'm.. I'm glad, Vee."

His lips brushed briefly against hers before he paused. "Is it alright if I kiss you, now?"

She laughed quietly and she closed the distance between them, answering his question. His reaction was instant, his one arm sliding around her waist, pulling her closer as he kissed her.

Vivian was almost surprised at his tenderness. She had always known him as a boisterous American man, no matter what he was doing, he was always tense and sometimes rough in going about things; rammy, for lack of a better word. Well, not that she could be any different some days, but regardless of his personality, the warmth and gentleness she felt was not unwelcome.

Tank, making sure to hold her close, slowly lied on his back so she was resting against his chest, never breaking their kiss. He ran his fingers through her soft hair, smiling slightly to himself. What a pair they make, he thought. A Canadian and an American; polar opposites. Then again, opposites  _did_  attract.

Always interesting, how things worked.

/ / /

Although there was really no need for it, Daren had set out to scouting the area once more. He knew there was no immediate danger, but it gave him something to do. It was useful, too, in case something bad  _did_  happen or was actually coming.

It wasn't until he had let out a giant yawn that he felt that he should go and sleep. If they were heading out the next day, he'd need to rest up enough to be able to travel efficiently.

Daren put the strap over his shoulder and readjusted his sniper so it rested easy on his back. He then walked back to the camping area, where everyone was most likely already asleep. Except for maybe Vivian; she could stay away until almost five in the morning if she wanted!

He tried his best to walk by the tents silently. Some of them slept easy, but could also be woken up easy. He didn't want to be on the ass end of death stares just because he walked too loudly.

He passed by Tank and Vivian's tent and was surprised to hear nothing. Normally they'd both be snipping at each other or they'd be chatting up a storm about something or another (he never really stuck around long enough to find out what it was).

It wasn't until he actually passed the tent that he heard Tanks' voice. "Don't you fucking tell me that nobody has ever called you beautiful before!"

Daren skidded to a halt and, despite his better judgement, he set down his sniper against a log and he snuck up to the tent. He always suspected that there was something going on between those two. They definitely weren't screwing around, but there was  _something_.

Trying his best to keep his breathing quiet, he stood next to the tent, out of the way of the moonlight so a shadow wouldn't be cast over the tent. He normally wasn't one for eavesdropping (correction, he  _wasn't_  one for eavesdropping), but he just felt like he needed to hear what was going on.

"-covered in mud, dirt and blood most days!"

"Don't mean a damn thing." He heard Tank say. "Still beautiful to me."

There was a pregnant pause and Daren had assumed that that might've been it until he heard Vivian gasp slightly. "Tank... I need to hear it."

"Hear what?"

"If you're meaning what I think you're meaning... I need to hear you say it."

There was another pause, a lot longer, and normally he would have left. But this was too interesting and he himself was actually dying to know the answer as well!

The halt in conversation had Daren thinking that the American might've actually rejected Vivian, but when he heard Tank speak, he was completely all ears. "Vivian, I... I like you. A lot. More than I probably should. If you don't feel the same way, that's okay."

A small grin spread across his lips and he mentally shouted, ' _Called it!_ '.

"I do, Tank. Like you."

Daren's grin turned into a giant smile. ' _Fucking called it!_ '. Of course, he wouldn't go about telling everyone but it was a little victory for him because he had claimed to Scott that there had been something going on between them for the longest time and now it was confirmed!

"Is it alright if I kiss you, now?"

He quickly turned on his heel and walked as swiftly as he could back to his own tent. Yeah, he definitely didn't need to eavesdrop on  _that_. He had heard enough to know that Scott now owed him twenty bucks.

/ / /

As they had walked through the mountains,  _nobody_  had failed to notice the looks that Tank and Vivian had been giving each other. Or that their behaviour had changed drastically towards one another.

Normally they left each other alone or they would have snarky quips, but this time they seemed to actually be getting along. At one point, Vivian had ended up slipping and then rolling down a steeper part of a hill and knocking Tank clear off of his feet!

Once they had reached the bottom of the steep incline, they had actually laughed about it. Normally stuff like that was met with a 'watch where you're going, Blue!' or something along the lines of that.

What had gotten into those two?

Daren seemed to be the only one who wasn't surprised by their behaviour and Nikolai couldn't help but be nosy. "They seem happier,  _da_?"

The Canadian shrugged and he shifted the sniper on his back. "I guess. Like, we did just have like a two day sleep; I feel better just from that."

They all got to the bottom of the incline with Tank and Vivian and they took a moment to catch their breaths. They had been traveling for some time now and it was most likely close to mid afternoon (they had no sunlight due to clouds so they all had to take their best guess).

Vivian straightened her jacket and she brushed off more snow. "We still have a ways to go, eh?"

"About that," Edward was brushing snow off of his own vest. "It appears we may have taken a bad path to get to the station."

"Why?"

The German gestured and everyone moved towards what looked to be like a ledge. Upon looking over, they saw that the mountain had gotten steeper still, too steep to climb down safely without injuring or killing themselves. And it was an extremely long way down! "Can't we go around?" Scott asked.

"That would take days," Said Takeo, "If not longer, to go around. Time, I fear, is something we do not have in this moment."

Vivian started to look around. It was a bit of a cliff area that they were in and if she could find something useful, like some stray rope, that would help her figure out a way down.

"That is only option I see." Nikolai stated. "I would rather go around than die falling down."

Edward almost scolded him. "We have little time to get to the station! If we went around, we might be too late."

"Better late than never!" Daren snapped. "I like living thanks!"

The men started to bicker about the best way of getting to the station. Trying to slide or climb down was too risky, but going around would take too much time. Going down could result in injury, going around could result in having something else attack or eat them (namely mountain lions or something of the like). There was pros and cons to both options, but it appeared that an impasse was not going to be reachable anytime soon.

Until Vivian started to whistle sharply.

The men suddenly quieted down and Vivian tossed something at their feet. "We don't have to go around, but we also don't have to slide or climb down." A grin spread across her lips. "We can snowboard down!"

Either by sheer luck or by Samantha becoming annoyed by their helplessness, Vivian had found a small abandoned shack and there was early models of snowboards leaning just against the outside of the shack. There was more than seven, but she gathered only what they needed.

Daren was quick to grab one and he quickly examined it. "Sweet! I didn't know these were even invented by now!"

She shrugged and grabbed one herself. "Well, they're early models but they will most likely do the job! They're made of oak, I think."

Scott then grabbed one and was quick to apply it to his boots. "Do you think it's safe?"

She shrugged once again. "Safe as can be."

Although the Canadians appeared familiar with the objects they were attaching to their feet, everyone else appeared confused and didn't know what to do. Vivian audibly sighed. Did she have to give snowboarding lessons to these guys?

"Okay..." She huffed. "So, these are called snowboards."

/ / /

Scott and Daren waited patiently as Vivian finished her 'snowboarding lessons' with Primis. Although they had never ridden one or even stood on one, they had surprisingly good balance. Hopefully that balance stayed with them while they were actually riding down the mountain.

With a finally huff, Vivian finished, "And don't lean too much or you'll end up turning too sharp and wiping out; you don't want to end up breaking your neck going down. Everyone got it?"

She got a few short nods and she took a breath. "Good, now, since I have more experience I'll go down first, then Daren then Scott. Don't follow directly behind me in case there's loose snow."

She turned and slid towards the edge of the cliff and she attached the second leather strap to her boot. None of them were wearing proper gear, such as helmets or goggles (well, Nikolai and Takeo both had goggles but nobody else did). Hopefully no wind caught the snow or they'd all end up being blinded.

Surveying the first portion of the mountain, Vivian checked the best possible route to go down. It was very ride-able, of course, but there was lots of obstacles that could end up screwing her if she wasn't careful.

All the more fun for her!

With a short nod, Vivian leaped off the edge of the cliff side and she landed safely on the snow below. She gently tilted her body and drifted around the corner, kicking up snowy powder. She looked back to see that Scott and Daren had followed quickly behind her but the rest of the group seemed somewhat uncertain.

No stopping now. Sure, she could brake, but who knew how long they'd take?

/ / /

Primis stared in disbelief as Vivian jumped off the ledge and then the other two Canadians followed right after her. Tank looked over the ledge and saw that they had made it safely. Although they seemed to be doing fine, he still didn't seem too sure of the idea of riding wooden slabs down the side of a mountain.

"Hey, what do the rest of you-"

He felt a whoosh of air and saw that Takeo had shot right past him and was riding down the slopes. Albeit wobbly, but he was quick to regain his balance.

Before he could even speak Nikolai slipped down the ledge and Edward followed right behind the Russian. Edward had nearly toppled over but he used a boulder to help regain his balance on the board. Seeing that they were beginning to get out of his range of sight, Tank took a deep breath and cracked his neck. "Alright..."

Taking a breath, Tank jumped off the edge.

/ / /

Vivian couldn't help but let out a joyous laugh as she glided over the slopes. Although she had never done any serious snowboarding, it felt amazing to be doing the sport once more. She had gotten the basics of extreme snowboarding, such as grinding and a few aerial tricks, but she didn't dare try them here. She was on a mountainside with no knowledge of any paths or obstacles ahead. She didn't want to grind on a dead tree and end up falling off a cliff edge.

Still, she couldn't help but show off a bit.

The Canadian dug her back foot down into the board, kicking up powder, and she drifted from side to side, gathering some momentum before she jumped into the air and did a grind against a fallen dead tree, twigs snapping as she rode over them, before she jumped off and continued down the side of the mountain.

She didn't need to even look back as both Daren and Scott had already managed to catch up with her and was riding beside her. "Show-off!" Daren shouted, the smile apparent in his voice.

She shrugged her shoulders. "Not my fault you guys aren't as good as me!"

"Wanna bet?" Scott challenged.

She looked over to him and with a smile, she leaned down slightly and, as the wind passed over her, she gained some speed and slid over a small mound of hardened snow. With that small amount of air time, she was able to get ahead of her friends.

In the (short) amount of time that she hadn't looked back, she failed to notice how quickly the other boys had managed to catch up to them. Without much warning, she felt something brush right beside her and she looked to see Takeo gliding down the slopes with ease. She then shouted, "How'd you catch up so quick?"

"You best move quickly as well!" He shouted in response, gesturing slightly behind him.

Now confused, Vivian turned only to see a large man collide with her, nearly knocking her straight off her feet. "Watch it, Nik!" She snapped, pushing away from him.

"Sorry, little bear!" He gestured behind him, "But we need to move!"

Rolling her eyes she looked back over her shoulder to see a thick white cloud of snow following straight behind them. She gasped as she realized what it was.

"Oh, shit..."

In all her excitement, Vivian had failed to look back. Therefore, she failed to notice the avalanche that was now following close behind them. It must have snowed very recently, she thought, because the only thing she could think of that could cause an avalanche was soft snow. And one of the things that could trigger it was people shifting said soft snow. And they did just that.

Shit, why didn't she check for soft snow  _before_  they left?

She could see that Edward and Tank were managing just fine and they were catching up as well, but they both appeared somewhat wobbly. If either one of them fell they would definitely die from the avalanche!

Vivian glided over to Daren. "You guys keep going!" She told him. "I'll stick with Tank and Ed to make sure they're okay!"

He nodded and she twisted her body and tilted the board so the snow gathered under it, slowing her down so she fell behind. She waited until Edward and Tank were close enough for her to start back up again. Once they caught up with her she tried her best to make sure they stayed balanced. "Eddie, you're angling yourself too much; straighten your posture a bit!"

The German scientist tried his best and despite himself, he couldn't help but snap at her. "I am a doctor, not a... whatever this is!"

"Extreme snowboarding! And your life depends on it now so straighten up!"

Tank quickly followed suit as well and did his best to keep his posture straight. It was difficult because he wasn't used to doing anything that involved snow, really, but he had to try his best or snow would be the thing that ended him!

"You guys just need to try your best to keep ahead of the avalanche!" She shouted. "We're almost at the bottom of the mountain!"

Upon looking, he saw that they were getting pretty close to the small village, but not before there was a steep incline.

"Uh, Blue?"

His words fell on deaf ears as she suddenly took off, tilting her body from side to side. Tank could see how she was gaining more speed from the motions, compared to just going in a straight line. She was heading straight for the incline, of course, but it was most likely their only way out of the situation.

Tank, remembering the short lessons she gave on top of the mountain, gently tilted his own body and the board moved with him. He then tried the other way, and he could feel the momentum building up.

He looked back to see if Edward was following along, but the Doctor was nowhere to be seen. Despite the hatred for the German, he couldn't help but feel a sense of dread. He didn't get covered by the avalanche, did he?!

A flying chunk of snow snapped him out of his thoughts and he tried bringing up his speed once more. He could see that Vivian had already gone down the steep incline and he realized that he was right on top of it just before he slid down it.

Oh, jesus, was that a hill?

Vivian had gone off the hill long before he did and almost as soon as she had, her arms started to pinwheel slightly. Did she lose her balance on the jump?

It wasn't until he himself had gone over the small slope that he realized her sudden lack of grace.

Although they had made it to the village (and it appeared that Nikolai and Scott had made it as well), there was nothing to stop them from hitting the ground. Hard. Aside from a bit of snow, of course, but what were the chances that it would be thick enough to cushion their fall?

Not very likely.

Vivian collided roughly into the hard ground, the wind being knocked right out of her. Although there was a thick layer of snow, with the speed she had taken off and the amount of air she had gained, there was little she could do to prevent any bruises or a cracked bone or to keep her from rolling.

She tried her best to tuck her body in, but it was hard to do when you had a snowboard attached to your feet. Although it did slow her down slightly, it didn't stop her before she ran straight into Nikolai and Scott, knocking them right off their feet. The Canadian slid on some ice before she came to a complete stop and she groaned loudly, holding her head which now pounded with pain. Should've looked for helmets, she thought.

She felt someone removing the board from her feet and she was suddenly picked up and carried off somewhere. When she looked she saw that she was being carried to a narrow alley. Most likely for cover to avoid being buried by the avalanche.

Vivian was set against a wall of a small house and she felt the rumblings of the avalanche as it passed. It had gotten slow, now most likely due to the fact that there was no incline for it to come down. And it was also a small avalanche, one that didn't start at the very top of the mountain, so they had gotten lucky.

"Are you alright, Vivian?"

She groaned and she rubbed at her head. "I think I might have a slight concussion, but I'll be fine." She looked up to Edward, who was now playing 'mother hen' once more and was checking for injuries. "I didn't see you when we were heading towards the slope. What happened?"

He pushed aside some of her blue hair and checked her head to make sure there were no cuts. "There was a crevice in the earth that I fell through. There was some sort of cavern underneath the mountain. Takeo and Daren were there also, and they are safe."

The shaking had stopped and she assumed that the avalanche was now over. Her body still quivered from the adrenaline rush and she laughed nervously. "Now  _that_  was fun."

Edward only shook his head. "And you Canadians call that 'extreme snowboarding'?"

"No, that was stupid snowboarding." She clarified (albeit sarcastically). "Extreme snowboarding was what we were doing before the avalanche."

Now satisfied that she suffered no severe head injuries, Edward helped Vivian to stand and they climbed over the snow and on top of the mound that the avalanche had created.

Indeed, Takeo and Daren were both unscathed and okay, as was Nikolai and Scott (despite that she brought them along for a 'crash course'). Tank seemed somewhat banged up, but otherwise okay.

They were all silent for a moment, looking back up at the mountain. They all had just done probably the most craziest thing in their lives, and that said something considering they had been fighting the undead for so long! It was both dangerous and fun, but none of them were hoping to do that again anytime soon.

Scott suddenly cleared his throat. "I win, to clarify."

Vivian threw a chunk of snow at him.

/ / /

Finding the Tram was easy but, as expected, it looked like chaos had ensued their before their arrival. There were a few things still burning and there was a few charred human corpses. But, the tram was still working.

And it was an extremely tight fit.

With four people it would be easy but with seven, that was another story altogether. It was almost crammed, having six men and one woman stuffed into a tram, but they managed to make it work.

"Okay, before I lose my cool in this sardine can, there's one thing we need to focus on right away; feeding the dragons."

"Why?"

"Do you want to get out of there, or not, Tank?"

The American stayed silent and she rolled her eyes. "Anyways, once the Dragons are fed, and the power turned on, we will have access to the Wrath of the Ancients! Powerful bow and arrows, which can be upgraded too! They're super epic and as I said, powerful, so you guys really want them!"

As the tram began to slow down, Vivian checked to make sure her Argus was loaded. "Oh, and one more thing; keep an eye out for shield pieces that are laying around; we all will need them!"

The tram came to a complete stop and when the doors opened, everyone filed out.

And into a horde of zombies.

All was quiet other than the occasional growl or groan from a zombie, or the sound of their own breathing. Everyone raised their weapons and the zombies suddenly became aware of their presence, although they did not attack.

With a single, deep breath, Vivian shouted, "Let's get this party started!"

She fired her shotgun at a zombie and the horde suddenly made a beeline straight for them, screaming at them, reaching out with their bony hands. Everyone started to open fire on the horde, trying their best to thin them out before attempting to move forward.

Everything was immediately a blur for Vivian; flashes of golden white as guns were fired, the passing, rotting faces of corpses as she shot them down, bloody mists spraying across her face and body, body parts being torn and ripped apart as a grenade exploded somewhere in the dock.

Over the constant screaming and gunfire, they were all unable to hear as the countdown began to the rocket launch. Not until the horde began to thin out.

Once the horde was severed to a few, walking corpses, only then did the group hear the final portion of the countdown before the rocket ignited.

Despite knowing that it was basically inevitable, Vivian still couldn't help but smack the railing in frustration. "Dammit!" She cursed.

She turned around and pointed to Daren. "I blame you!" She said jokingly.

"The fuck did I do?!" He exclaimed, his voice cracking slightly.

"Absolutely nothing."

Scott cleared his throat. "Guys, maybe we should move on? Like, don't get me wrong I'd rather just stand around and not do a lot but I don't want to stand around body parts and pools of blood."

Vivian nodded. "Okay, follow me!"

Stepping over several body parts and corpses, Vivian lead the group to the first door which lead to the courtyard with the first Dragon. "Okay, one thing you need to know about this place is that it's very wide open and there's almost no place where you can camp and hide; every nook and cranny gives a good spot for a zombie to climb up and chomp your neck off."

"Although it is a castle," Edward added. "There is very little that can defend us from the hordes."

Nikolai started to become worried. "So, we are like sitting ducks,  _da_?"

Vivian shook her head. "Not as long as you have a gun!"

The group passed under the bridge and Vivian waved to the Dragon statue in the wall. "Hey, Fred!"

Daren burst out laughing and Scott chuckled. "You actually named it?!"

"I named all three, don't you judge me!" She laughed briefly before she scanned the area. "Okay, mates, there's these little circular pads on the ground - you'll want to stand on them to activate them. Don't ask why, just do it as we'll need them." She then pointed up to Fred. "There's three of these things and each will need to eat about eight to ten zombies."

Nikolai, Tank and Takeo all looked between one another, disbelieving expressions on their faces. She put her hands on her hips and she  _tsked_. "Okay, what is it?"

"They're statues, Blue."

"So? Don't judge a book by its cover, Tank."

Zombies started to rip at the boards in the window and they heard the screams of the damned coming from the small room above them. At first, Vivian was confused but she shrugged it off. Those zombies by the Tram were probably just something to get them all started and this would be the first wave, she thought.

"Scott and I will take the rooftops!" Daren stated, quickly running up the stairs with Scott in tow. "We'll keep them off you!"

They both quickly got their gobblegums before they climbed the boxes and up onto the roof of the castle, readying their snipers. They would have to be careful now as most spots were often confined in Der Eisendrache. If they hit someone, they would not only get an earful from the group, but they'd also be putting everyone at risk.

Vivian looked to the other men, who all looked at her expectantly (even Edward) and she waved her hands dismissively. "Go, fan out! Get the cash so you all can start opening doors!"

She cocked her Argus. "I'll feed the dragon."

Primis immediately spread themselves out, although Tank a lot more hesitantly. He knew that Vivian knew what she was doing, but he still couldn't help but worry about her.

Vivian, hearing the screams behind her, quickly whipped around and fired, shooting the head off a zombie and cutting its cry short.

Above her she felt some debris fall into her hair before the Dragon fully awoke, shaking off the remaining stones before unleashing a mighty roar. With a heaving breath, it spat out fire from its mouth, almost as if announcing its awakening. Vivian smiled. "Hey, Fred!"

The Dragon waited patiently, although not quietly, for the next portion of its meal and Vivian quickly killed another zombie, trailing the next few around. She had learned the hard way that to make the most out of the rounds, she had to wait until the Dragons were completely done eating a zombie before killing another one. It made sense, as they most likely preferred fresh kills.

Strange, how those creatures worked.

Daren did his best to keep the worst of the horde off of their backs, but between hanging bodied from rafters, the bridge, and the small space, it was becoming increasingly difficult to shoot a zombie without potentially risking someone else's life.

He puffed at a lock of hair that fell in front of his eyes before he aimed down sights. Nikolai seemed to be doing just fine, but if he didn't pay better attention that zombie behind him would get a good chunk of his shoulder.

Steadying his aim, Daren put a finger on the trigger of his sniper.

Before he could pull it, he felt something tugging roughly at his shoulder and upon turning around, he saw the jaws of a rotting corpse opening widely, ready to bite him.

Shocked and startled, Daren let out an ear piercing scream as he struggled to shake the zombie off him. However, the slight slope in the roof of the castle along with the snow under his boots caused him to slip backwards.

Nothing was able to break or soften his fall as Daren plummeted to the hard, stony ground. Once he landed, a sickening  _crack_  echoed throughout the small courtyard and Daren's scream followed shortly after, along with the zombie which died instantly from the impact. Although they did not need it, everyone felt that small pang in their heads and they knew for certain that he was down.

Vivian, being the closest to him, shot a zombie before running over to him. Pulling out a small syringe from her pocket, she stuck it into his neck and allowed for the serum to work its magic.

Although now fully revived, he still did not want to move or get up. "Daren, mate, what's wrong?"

He did not respond and only held his left arm close to his chest, grimacing in pain. "Turn over and let me see, you big baby-"

Once she grabbed his arm, she felt the familiar warm, almost sticky substance on his arm.

Oh jesus, his arm was bleeding. Did he get bitten?!

"Edward!"

The Doctor, although somewhat occupied, was quick to react. He vaulted himself over the rail of the wooden bridge and landed on the tank beneath him, then he quickly slid off of it before running over to the two Canadians. "What happened?!" He demanded.

"I just fell..." He groaned.

"'You just fell'; dude, your arm is bleeding! Did you get bitten?"

Edward gently pushed Vivian to the side and she defended the two men from the incoming zombies. She tried her best to kill them in the range of the Dragon so he could be fed, but it was hard to do with a shotgun. "Scott, keep killing zombies near the Dragon! And for fucks' sake, watch your six!"

Richtofen carefully helped to remove Daren's jacket and he set it to the side. Once he examined his arm, he saw the source of the problem.

The skin under his elbow was completely broken open, the blood oozing from it and he saw the faint white colour of bone. Although the serum helped to heal the worst of the wound, it still did not heal it entirely. "He has suffered a compound fracture under the elbow,  _fräulein_. The injection healed most of it, but he is still in terrible condition."

"Can't you fix it?!"

"Do you see," he shouted, "any medicinal supplies?!"

She grit her teeth and she shot at a zombie that grabbed at her hand, its head exploding in a spray of blood.

"I need something to help close off the wound... do you have a belt?"

"Yes," she replied. "But it's the only thing keeping my pants up! So use yours!"

"It is also keeping  _mein_  trousers up, Vivian."

"Then use Daren's!"

He groaned. "Fuck you..."

Vivian, now completely fed up with the sudden change in events, shouted at the top of her lungs, "Does  _anyone_  have a belt or leather strap that  _isn't_  keeping their clothes together?!"

Tank glanced down at his own jacket. Finishing off the last two zombies chasing him, the Marine quickly dashed down the spiral stairs and came to a skidding halt beside them. "What the fuck happened?!" He demanded, quickly pulling the belt that held his jacket around him off. He would probably be feeling a slight chill if the wind caught underneath his jacket, but it wouldn't be too bad.

Edward snatched the belt from his hands and he quickly wrapped it around Daren's elbow, roughly tightening it and using the buckle to keep it wrapped up. "Help me lift him up, Dempsey."

Tank wrapped Daren's right arm over his shoulder and Edward kept a hand at his back. Daren groaned at the sudden shift in position, the blood rushing completely to his head. Edward helped him put his jacket back on, but he did not put the sleeve back over his injured arm. "We need a sling..."

Vivian, overhearing him, quickly set down her shotgun and she unzipped her leather jacket and shrugged it off her shoulder. "Here, use this!"

"You're gonna fucking freeze without a coat on, Blue!" Tank exclaimed.

"I'm a Canadian; we're built for this weather!" She picked up her gun and quickly reloaded it. "Besides, moving around so much will make us hot and sweaty and we'll be moving inside soon!"

They all jumped as the Dragon released another roar and they looked to see the flames cooling down and the Dragon returned to stone for a brief moment before crumbling, signalling that its hunger was now sated. "As I was saying..."

Daren shook off the Doctor and he rolled his neck and his shoulder. "I'm fine. Thanks."

"You will have to keep to pistols and submachine weapons until I find the proper medical tools to help with your wound." Edward informed him. "And try not to fall off the roof again."

Daren rolled his eyes. "Funny."

The three men hardly had time to react before Vivian suddenly took off and went up the spiral stairs. She tapped the nose of the lion and it spat out a gobblegum. "Perkaholic, perfect!"

She quickly snatched it and once she popped a bubble, it immediately disintegrated in her mouth and she grimaced. "The taste is never consistent..." She muttered.

Vivian quickly turned and went through the small room and across the walkway, and then she turned and ran across the bridge. It appeared that someone had already used their cash to open the barrier as there was no blue floating objects in front of it. Good, she needed to save up.

She charged through the archway and she ran straight into Takeo, who nearly toppled over. "Where is Daren?" He asked.

"He's fine he's coming!" She replied. "Where is Nikolai?"

Takeo gestured and she looked around the corner to see that the Russian was in Samantha's room and he appeared to be reading something on a sheet of paper. Or, rather, trying to, as it appeared he was struggling to read it. "Uh, are you sure you should be just lounging around?" She asked.

"There is no more hell pigs, little bear." He replied

She heard a  _thump_  behind them and she turned and saw Scott, who had dropped down from the roof. "Way to ditch me, Vee."

She waved her hand dismissively. "Meh, you lived. Did you see any zombies on the way down?"

"Nope."

"And none were following us." Edward informed them. "I believe it is safe to say we are in the clear, for a moment anyways."

Nikolai, still intent on attempting to read what was on the paper, turned and walked towards them. "Is this even real language?!"

Vivian snorted and she grasped the top of the paper and pulled it from his hands. "Maybe it's gibberish." She joked. Looking down, she saw words that were extremely familiar to her. "Oh, wait, this is actually French!"

"French?"

She looked up and smiled. " _Oui, monsieur._ "

" _Tu parle en français_?"

Vivian whipped around and stared in disbelief at Tank, who only shrugged. "You speak French, Tank?!"

He nodded. "Yeah; growing up in Louisiana, you learn a bit of the language. Not that hard to learn."

"Touche!"

"Can you just read the fucking note?" Daren snapped. "I don't want to just be standing around when the zombie fuck-nuggets come back."

She rolled her eyes but she read it. It was actually only one sentence, which was odd. And, once she thought about it, there was never any sheets of paper in Samantha's room at any part of the easter egg. So why was it in there?

It took a moment for Vivian to read it, but once she did, not only did a cold chill run down her spine, but she was suddenly filled with anger. Crumpling the paper she threw it at the wall and growled. "Goddammit!"

"What's wrong,  _fräulein_? What did it say?"

She tapped her fingers against the stone wall, regaining her composure. " _Amusez-vous bien_." She growled. "'Have fun'."

She whipped around, her eyes ablaze with fury. "Remember what happened last time she said that? Shit went wrong! She changed something! She's changed the rules, did something to switch the game around."

"What do you think she did?" Scott asked.

"I don't know. But whatever it was, it probably isn't gonna be good."

Tank looked confused, his brows furrowing. "But why would she make a note in French? Why not English so we all could read it?"

"You can't read French?" She asked.

"No."

This made her think for a moment. Daren and Scott both couldn't read French as well as she could. Although she despised the classes in school, she caught on well and she could read French almost as well as she could speak it. However, the reasoning behind making the note in French was still unclear.

Unless...

"What if the note was intended for me, somehow?" She suggested. "I'm the only one in here who can read in French."

"Well,  _amusez-vous_  is a plural phrase, meant for more than one person. Maybe the demon kid intended for the note to be for everyone, but... she could be taunting you too?"

"But  _why_  is my question."

Nobody responded and there was only the shuffling of feet and she sighed. "Well, while I think on that, let's go and get the power running. Hopefully we have enough time to do some more important things before the next wave gets here."

As everyone moved forward, nobody noticed the concerned look on Richtofen's face. This wasn't how it was supposed to be going, he thought. There was something wrong, something had indeed changed but he wasn't sure what it was. However, regardless of that fact, he knew for certain that whatever Samantha had planned for them, it wasn't going to be good. Not even in the slightest.

Whatever she had planned, there was a chance it would end up having them all killed.


	9. Take a Bow (Literally)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THERE IS MAJOR MENTIONS OF CUTTING AND SUICIDE IN THIS CHAPTER PLEASE BE WARNED!!!
> 
> And, I had decided to cut the chapter somewhat short as there is gonna be smut coming up and I'm gonna put it in a separate chapter entirely as I know some people do not wish to read that and came purely for the action parts of the story and not the romance. Anyways, I hope y'all enjoy!

With the power having been restored, they could explore more of the castle without the cost of doors. Of course, there was a few doors they had to open but it really was no matter.

However, despite the amount of time that had passed, no zombies were coming around. There was no sounds of groaning or screaming, not even a little growl. The silence was putting everyone on edge, especially Edward.

Still, it was good as they were able to take their time in exploring the castle.

Despite his injury, Daren had still taken it upon himself to do some patrolling. However, without the use of his left arm, he was unable to use his sniper. He had gotten crafty, however, and used the scope of his sniper as a monocular. If any zombies were spotted, Scott would begin to fire and Daren would try and warn the others.

Meanwhile, Nikolai and Takeo were both exploring the lower area (the 'basement' as Vivian called it) of the castle. Lord knew what they would be doing down there but Nikolai stated it would be 'simple reconnaissance'. Edward was searching the castle in the hopes that the major supplies were not taken or destroyed. Tank was off doing his own thing (he didn't bother to specify what).

Vivian was exploring the castle more in depth. There was multiple stairways (some broken) and barriers that originally could not be explored just playing the game, so she decided to try and explore those areas. Of course she remembered that some areas were areas in which zombies would come from, but upon looking, she saw that those barriers were no longer in place. Were there no windows or doorways to be boarded up?

She had merely shrugged it off thinking that it could've been part of something that Samantha changed.

Vivian was currently checking up the stairway in a tower portion of the castle (left to the death ray, where she remembered a pot for the lightning bow was). The stairway was broken which would prevent players from jumping up and exploring more. However, this time, it wasn't the case. The stairway was intact and she suddenly became very excited to see what was up there.

The staircase creaked as she walked up the steps, creating an almost ominous air around her. It was very creepy, the old castle, but it was also very fascinating how the Germans were able to make such an ancient building into a working station.

Once she finally reached the top of the stairway, she found that it was an incredibly spacious bedroom area completed with a small dresser and a wood furnace. Of course, there was bloodstains on the floor and a few items strewn across the room. And a zombie pinned to the wall with a sword. Other than that, it was fairly clean.

Removing the sword from the corpse, Vivian pushed it over the wooden ledge so she wouldn't have to drag it down the stairways (and leave behind a thick trail of blood in the process). Swiftly running down the stairs, she then proceeded to drag the dead zombie out of the room.

"What you find, Blue?"

She jumped and whipped around to see Tank. She let out a breath. "A zombie. And a bedroom."

Tank's lips curled slightly in a mischievous grin and she _tsked_. "Don't get any ideas, hon."

Dragging the zombie around the outside of the tower room, she pushed it over the stone edge, sending it plummeting to the ground below. Wiping her hands off on her jeans, she turned to face Tank. "What you got, there?" She asked, gesturing to the small, rectangular crate in his hands.

"Something I found in the power room. Don't know what they are, thought you might though since you enjoy history."

She raised an eyebrow but she took the box. "Let's move inside where it's a bit warmer, eh?"

They walked into the tower and up the stairs, where she sat on the bed and gingerly removed the lid of the crate. She looked inside and her brows furrowed. "Why would they have these here?"

Tank leaned against the wall. "What are they?"

Vivian removed the Japanese weapons from the box and set it aside. "These are called  _Neko Te_ , or 'cat's claws'. Japanese ninja weapons, traditionally used by female ninjas or  _Kunoichi_. If you want more historical information on that, you'd probably want to ask Takeo; he might know more."

Tank watched as she placed the metal gloves on her hands, the claws gleaming in the light of the moon. She giggled slightly as she inspected them. "This is so cool!" She said. "You know, these things are still really sharp!"

Standing up, Vivian looked around the room and saw a flag with a swastika hanging on the wall. Rolling her shoulders, she swung her one arm out, claws outstretched, and the flag ripped apart with ease. With a grin she removed the Neko Te from her hands. " _Real_  sharp." She said.

She put the clawed gloves back in the box and she set it on the nightstand beside the bed. "That was a pretty good find, Tank! Was that the only box there?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "The only one with those kinds of weapons. The rest were medieval swords or some food supplies."

Vivian nodded slightly before she shivered. "We need to get the furnace going..." She muttered.

"What happened to you Canadians being built for this weather?" Tank joked.

"Shut up."

Vivian tore down the remains of the flag and she threw it into the furnace along with a few pieces of wood that was piled beside it. Tank was quick to hand her a box of matches, to which she raised an eyebrow. "Why do you have these handy?" She asked, striking the match against the side of the box. "You smoke or something?"

"Yeah. Why?"

She shrugged and threw the lit match into the furnace. She waited until it turned into a big flame before she closed the small door and stood. "Just wondering. It explains a lot."

"There's no way I smell like it. We've got the smell of the dead on us."

She turned to him and handed the matches back. "After you smoked a fresh one, yeah, I can smell it. And you smoke pretty frequently too, but how you found such a large supply of it, I'll never know."

Tank took a pack of cigarettes from a pouch on his belt and gave it to Vivian. "Why?"

"I know you smoke too. Saw some of mine went missing a few times." He walked past her and sat on the bed, pulling out his own pack of cigarettes.

Although she was not a heavy smoker, Vivian sometimes found herself taking a cigarette or two from Tank after a long day. Or whenever she felt she needed to use the blade. She tried her best to limit herself on how often she smoked as well, but most of the time stress outweighed health.

"You know, Blue," He said, lighting a cigarette. "You could've asked, I wouldn't have judged. Besides, I think you need them."

"Why?"

Tank blew a puff of smoke, sighing quietly in both relief and annoyance. He gestured to her wrist. "You know why."

Vivian sighed heavily before she sat beside Tank. "You've seen them too, eh?"

He handed her a matchbook and she took it. Taking a cigarette from the pack, she quickly struck a match and lit the cigarette. She took a few puffs of the tobacco before she sighed. "Look, it's not as big of a problem as it used to be, Tank."

"Then why do you keep doing it?"

"I went through a lot of shit as a kid. Even now as an adult I still went through a lot, although the worst problems were over. That's how I ended up picking up smoking."

Tank flicked some ash off the end of the cigarette. "Doesn't answer my question, Blue. Cutting can be pretty easy to quit, but you still do it."

She sniffed. "Like you'd know."

Tank paused for a moment before smothering his cigarette on the floor and suddenly removing his jacket. "I do know, Vivian." He then removed his shirt. "I went through what you're going through now."

Her breath suddenly hitched and he only sat there casually, as if there was nothing wrong. Of course, nothing really was, but most would be ashamed that they would turn to self harm. Either he wasn't, or he just didn't care what anyone thought. Absentmindedly, Vivian brushed her fingers along the scars that adorned his chest and abdomen. Some were barely there, most likely inflicted at a young age, whereas others were still clearly visible.

"Went through shit as a kid too, Vee." He muttered. "Grew up in an orphanage for as long as I could remember. Most of the kids didn't like me much, neither did the couples that came along every so often."

Vivian tossed the cigarette onto the floor and quickly smothered it, now fully intent on focusing on him and what he had to say. She guessed that he wouldn't show this to just anyone, so whatever he had to say to her, it had to be important. "Why?"

Tank shrugged. "I'm not white, simple as that. From what I was told, my mom was Cajun. Dunno what my dad was."

She hesitated for a moment, wanting to choose her next words carefully. "So... is that why you started cutting?"

"No." He hissed. "Look, I was constantly bullied and picked on by the other kids. It didn't bother me at first, but after a while, I got tired of it. Then I started getting beat on by the older boys and I couldn't fight back or I would be in trouble with the head of the orphanage. Once I hit maybe thirteen, I had enough."

His fist clenched tightly beside him. "I was at a low, thought that nobody would ever want me or like me. Managed to sneak out and find some rope in the shed outside in the yard." Tank shook his head and laughed slightly at himself. "I was too much of a fucking coward to go and off myself, so I took a knife from the kitchen instead."

Vivian felt the tears beginning to form in her eyes, which she fought to hold back. "You were only thirteen?" She asked, her voice choking slightly.

"I was a fucking stupid kid. These scars were my own fault, nobody else's. I inflicted them on myself-"

He heard Vivian sniff loudly and he looked to see she was furiously wiping at the tears in her eyes. "So that's what you fucking think?" She hissed. She was angry, but not at him, but he failed to understand why. "That you were just being stupid?"

"I don't get why you're so upse-"

"I am upset because I fucking know what you went through, you dick!" She shouted, taking him completely by surprise. Taking a deep breath, Vivian calmed herself enough to speak without raising her voice. "I was bullied too. I was abused verbally and emotionally, I had few friends, argued with my family constantly, I've been discriminated against because I'm Native, I've been lied to, I've had promises broken, my trust used against me; Tank, you weren't being stupid." She suddenly pulled him in for a fierce embrace (one that almost knocked the wind clear out of him). "You were in pain. You didn't have anyone but yourself. You did the one thing you could think of to get rid of the emotional hurt. I know this because that's what happened to me."

"Vivian..." Tank sighed as he wrapped his arms round her, holding her close. He struggled to find the right thing to say, opening his mouth to speak, but then closing it to rethink his words. He never was one for emotional situations, or emotional women. He just wasn't good with emotions at all.

Thankfully, Vivian had regained her composure and said, "Look, hon, if you ever need to just talk... I'm here, you know?"

A perfect moment to say what you want to, he thought. "The same goes to you. And you also have to promise me something."

"What?"

He gently pushed at her shoulders to look into her eyes. "No matter what time it is or where we are, if you feel like you want to cut, you come to me instead."

She shook her head slightly, almost as if in disappointment. "Tank, do you really think that'll work? I'll be angry, frustrated, I'll want to yell or  _something_. I don't want to put that kind of abuse on you if I start lashing out at you."

"Vivian, promise me."

"Tank-"

" _Promise_."

Is he about to cry, she wondered. His eyes looked glassy, and she could tell he was gritting his teeth. He was visibly upset, and she understood why. He had cut too, but a lot more than what she had. He didn't want her to go through more pain then what he felt she needed to.

With a defeated sigh, Vivian nodded. "I promise."

Tank let out a quiet sigh before briefly kissing her lips, pressing his forehead against hers. "Thank you..."

For a few moments, they stayed like that, heads pressed together, arms wrapped around each other. It might not have meant much to others, but to them, it meant so much more. They felt safe, they felt cared for and loved, and they felt like they could truly trust one another.

Something truly rare in times such as these.

/ / /

Edward was becoming more and more on edge as time passed, his fingers tapping harshly against the wooden desk. Where were the hell spawns? Samantha wouldn't hold them off for so long! Unless this has now become part of her 'game'. She did change the rules, most likely, as Vivian had predicted. It wouldn't surprise him much either, considering how easy things had started to get since the three Canadians came along. Things weren't going her way, so she'd change the rules.

Stubborn child.

Daren's injury also had come into play now as well. Although now completely stitched and healing faster thanks to the Element 115, Edward had made certain to inform Scott not to take to the rooftops anymore, lest he suffer a possibly worse fate then his companion. Without their resident 'snipers' helping take out the hordes from a distance, they would be a lot more vulnerable to attack.

That wasn't what was bothering him however. What was bothering him was how severe Daren's injury was. Even from that height, he shouldn't have suffered a compound fracture. A broken bone, perhaps, but not a compound fracture. With the way Daren described how he landed, his injury should've been far from that.

Perhaps Samantha was beginning to increase the risk of death and injury, trying to send off a message to them that things would get worse. Edward scoffed.

As if things weren't bad enough already.

Briefly, Edward's eyes wandered to the dragon's head, still covered in stone. Still, stoic, and yet somehow fierce, full of wrath and anger. Despite that it could not and would not harm him, Edward still had a feared reverence for the ancient beast.

For a brief moment, he thought he saw the stone statue move, even if only just slightly, before he heard an ear piercing scream echo throughout the main room. There was no mistaking what it was, and in an instant he was on his feet, running through the main courtyard in search of the nearest people.

Hopefully nobody was  _too_  relaxed and hopefully he wouldn't have his arm bitten off if they were.

/ / /

Daren and Scott had been scouring the castle to find new spots for them to scout, to use (if not snipers) then mid-range weapons to shoot at the zombies. At first, it seemed almost futile, considering how open and yet not open the castle was. It was too spacious but at the same time, not spacious enough.

Now they really were beginning to think that not playing much Zombies with Vivian hadn't been the best of ideas.

"So, you still want that twenty bucks?"

"Yes!" Daren laughed. "We both made a bet! I expect you to live up to it once we get back home!"

Scott kicked at a piece of wood on the ground, kicking up both snow and loose splinters. "What if we don't? I mean, how are we going to get back after Revelations? I don't know if that Monty guy will even let us go."

Daren paused, now suddenly unsure of himself. He hadn't thought quite that far ahead, now that Scott had brought it up. Vivian had mentioned that they might not like what happened at the end of Revelations, but she didn't explain much more than that. She said they might be able to change things as long as they're careful and as long as they planned ahead. She didn't say anything much on the subject after that either.

Well, maybe she did. He couldn't really remember too well. Probably the 115 fucking with his head again.

It was weird, the sudden memory loss. He remembered a lot, but he also couldn't remember much from the past few days, even several weeks back. And he was also forgetting some things about home as well. So was Scott and Vivian. Vee had concluded that, because they were from a difference dimension but also since they weren't used to such strong chemicals and elements, that the 115 wouldn't have as strong of an effect on them compared to Primis (who would sometimes experience memory loss as well as delusions/hallucinations), but it took a hold of them a lot quicker then it did on Primis. They had only spent a few days in France but their memories started getting fuzzy after being teleported through time and space. Then, after a year, they actually started forgetting things. By the second year, they had lost so many memories, both far into the past as well as contemorary ones. They forgot the simple things, like if they ate or if they had had a certain conversation. Sometimes they would forget key things, like where they lived before getting to France (they remembered their country and province but not specifically where).

It was rather bothersome.

Daren shook his head. "I actually don't know. Maybe we should ask Vee once we get the chance."

They started to make their way into the main courtyard when they saw Edward run out of the main room, gun in hand, and they both raised their eyebrows. "Something wrong?"

Edward skidded to a halt and looked up the stairway. "The Hellspawn are back!"

Vivian, who was still in the tower with Tank, heard Edward shout and she poked her head out the window. "What?"

Daren looked up. "The Zombies are coming back!"

Vivian reacted instantly and she along with Tank could be heard running down the wooden stairwell, guns in hand. "They're pretty late..." They heard Tank mutter.

Despite that she still seemed pretty relaxed, Vivian was suddenly kicking into full gear. "Okay," She pointed to Edward, "You find Takeo and Nikolai and tell them to help you feed the Dragon down in the ruins!" She then gestured to Daren and Scott. "You guys start looking for pieces for the DG4 Ragnaroks! One is found when using the Ray and the other is found when activating the lever down by the launchpad sequence area! Wait until the sequence is ready to start and then flip the switch and get to the teleporter, and flip the switch beside it once all lights are green!"

"What about you?" Daren asked.

Vivian smirked. "We'll take care of Stony."

Now equipped with a plan, everyone spread out to head to their respective areas.

Before Tank and Vivian could even get down the stairway, they already heard the death ray being activated. They were being especially quick, which wasn't bad, but they also didn't know the rest of the Easter Egg, so if they finished in a short amount of time they would be pretty lost. Well, they could kill zombies, but they needed them for one of the bows.

Having located the box inside the main room, Vivian quickly hit it up, kicking gently at it and tapping her foot as she waited for it to finish rolling the guns.

Landed on the XM-53.

Vivian kicked at the box and growled. "Fucking hate this." Despite that she could hardly lift the rocket launcher without almost hurting herself, Vivian took it and set it against the wall in front of the box before kicking it once more (this time with a bit more force). Having Perkaholic was handy, as she could very easily have two useful weapons and then trade around a third one if needed.

The guns rolled and just as she heard the zombies, screaming and tearing at the wood that boarded up the windows, the box landed on the LCAR. She groaned again and she quickly traded the gun with the XM. The rocket launcher disappeared as she grabbed the hand held weapon, cocking it and checking to make sure it was loaded.

"I think I could work with this."

Tank raised an eyebrow as he readied his Man-O-War (one of his more favourite weapons). "How?"

Vivian smiled and she cocked her Argus in her right hand. "Just watch me, sugar."

The zombies started breaking through the windows and, just as they all started rounding the corners, the pair immediately began to fire on them. With the spray of blood of the first zombie, the Dragon awoke, the stone melting away into molten fire and lava. With a mighty roar, the Dragon unleashed a heavy breath of fire, making Tank and Vivian's heads feel suddenly  _very_  warm.

"Hi, Stony!" Vivian shouted over the gunshots and screams.

The creature did not acknowledge her, and it only looked around the room, searching for a free meal. With a chuckle, Vivian began to fire at the zombies.

There was too many of them coming at them all at once, so there was no room for them to train. They both tried their best at keeping the undead from reaching them. With how close the zombies were getting, Tank and Vivian ended up needing to fight back to back. Despite the confined space, they were working very well together, needing very little callouts or warnings.

"You seem to be doing well with those guns!" Tank shouted, kicking a zombie away before shooting its head.

Vivian fired her Argus, quickly flipping it so she could cock it, and she also fired the LCAR, shooting several zombies at once. "All it takes is some swift and talented hands, hon!" She replied.

She heard him chuckle and she gently nudged his shoulder. "Hush, that was  _not_  an innuendo!"

She grabbed a Widowed grenade from her belt and held it between her teeth for a few moments, firing at enough zombies to give her a brief break. Spitting the grenade into her hand, Vivian threw it hard onto the ground a few paces in front of her. After three seconds the grenade went off, freezing several zombies in place. When she turned she could see Tank was having some difficulties and she repeated the same motion, but on his 'side' of the horde.

The semi-frozen zombies, being unable to reach out and grab them, provided enough time for them to squeeze their way through and away from the group. The now had full access to the doorway in case they needed a quick escape.

They fired at a few of the zombies and the Dragon continued to eat, practically swallowing the undead creatures whole. Tank visibly cringed at the sight. "I don't get how that thing even enjoys eating the maggot-bags. The smell alone is enough to make me gag."

The final zombie in the group (which had been headless thanks to the Widowed grenade) fell dead and they both audibly breathed. Vivian took her time in reloading her weapons and making sure that they were in good condition (firing guns for too long without breaks could cause some problems, she learned - Samantha wasn't going to make things easier as far as weaponry went). "They're made of stone, Tank. And they're possessed somehow, so I doubt they have taste buds. Or a sense of smell."

They both heard a few more roars and Vivian grabbed Tank's hand and lead him down the stairway, where the Wrath of the Ancients could be seen hovering over a chest. Vivian stopped, nearly making Tank run into her. "Blue, watch it!"

She nodded, barely even acknowledging what he had said. The Wrath of the Ancients, she thought, truly beautiful. The bones actually looked pretty realistic, and the red mark glowed with an almost menacing light. The arrow looked like it was carved out of some sort of stone rather than metal, very sharp but also looking very primal and simple compared to the arrows she was used to seeing.

They heard footsteps and Tank looked to see Edward, Takeo and Nikolai all coming up the stairway from the basement of the castle. "Is the bow here?" Edward asked.

Vivian gestured slightly with her hand, slowly approaching the Bow as if it were going to bite her. "Yeah, Ed."

It looked beautiful, but in a deadly sort of way. It  _was_  an instrument of death, but it was stunning to look at! For whatever reason, she believed that the red mark on the bow might've been some trapped soul, an angry soul, hence 'Wrath of the Ancients'.

She went to grab the Bow, eager to give it a try, before she suddenly retaliated, knocking her knuckles together much like how a nervous child would. "Does, ah, anyone else want it?"

Nobody replied and she let out a small, girly giggle before grabbing the Wrath of the Ancients, nocking the arrow on the drawstring. She lets out a small squeal, making Tank snort. She was acting like a damn kid who just got a Christmas gift. It was cute.

Vivian drew back the drawstring, aiming it at the wall opposite to her. "This is so fucking co-"

Because of the weight in which the drawstring had (and because she was slightly rusty with archery), the string slipped from between her fingers, releasing the arrow that was nocked onto it.

The arrow landed directly next to Edward, who seemed to be interested in some markings on the walls of the tomb, and the noise from the blast made the German shriek out of both fear and shock, almost elegantly leaping away from where the arrow had landed.

Everyone paused, looking at Edward as he straightened out his vest, before bursting into a chorus of laughter. Even Takeo was chuckling!

Edward stood there, red-faced, and he brushed back his hair. "Hush, I was not expecting that."

Tank wiped at a tear that fell from his eye, wheezing heavily as he laughed. "How far... did your balls retract, to make such a girly scream?!"

He wheezed again as Edward merely rolled his eyes. Vivian, although she was laughing as well, smacked Tank lightly on the shoulder. "Hush, you!"

As the laughter died down to a few chuckled, Edward suddenly shot at a zombie that had managed to sneak up the stairway, kicking away the body before it could fall forward and onto him. "Can we perhaps go outside so we do not get cornered?"

Vivian, with a small skip in her step, dashed over to the stairs. "Hell yeah! I wanna test this baby out!"

Once everyone was outside, only then could they see the reason why the zombies didn't seem to be coming after them.

Daren and Scott seemed to be trailing a whole load of them, slowly firing at them. Daren had a pretty weak weapon and Scott only seemed to have his sniper available to him. Vivian, seeing her opportunity, quickly pulled back the drawstring on the bow. Steading her (somewhat) shaky aim, she took a deep breath and released the drawstring.

The arrow flew across the courtyard, with almost expert precision, and it exploded upon contact with a zombie, killing off a large majority of the group. Both Daren and Scott appeared surprised and looked to see Vivian with a smug grin on her face, leaning almost casually against the Bow. "You're welcome!"

/ / /

The horde seemed almost endless, with no pause or break in sight. Samantha kept them coming, no matter how many they decimated, no matter how many died, they kept coming.

Perhaps this is what she changed. Send the hordes out in massive swarms, and then let them have a break for a few hours, letting them prepare for the next one. Or maybe it was so  _she_  could prepare her undead hordes. After all, you could only create so many zombies before having to find more.

That was just Vivian's deduction, however, and not actual proven science.

Whilst the rest of the boys went out to search for pieces of the shield and the DG4 Ragnarok, as well as finding the pieces and completing the steps for the other bows, Vivian worked on feeding the souls to the vases hidden throughout Der Eisendrache. The Kreema'ahm la Ahmahm (or better known as the Lightning or Storm Bow) was the bow she knew entirely off by heart. The others she generally struggled with but she managed to remember all the steps for them. She saw Tank moving around once or twice with the Ghost Wolf ahead of him.

The wall running was the most fun part for her, being able to simply float in the air, allowing for gravity (or lack thereof) to simply carry her. Zero gravity could work wonders on the human mind, relieving it of stress (even if only for a moment).

Seeing that she had a moment, Vivian tested the bow, pulling it back fully and letting it touch the vase. The tip of the arrow suddenly sparked with electricity and she quickly ran out of the bell tower room and, before any zombies could crawl over the ledge, fired the arrow at the burning tornado, creating a mic of flames and lightning. Nodding, Vivian then took off towards the weather vane. Taking the broken arrow, she set it on the ground where she had first picked the pieces up when she started the bow. A purple mist surrounded the pieces and they floated up towards the vane, which was engulfed in a mic of flames and bolts of lightning, and she watched as the arrow came together to form a single piece. It floated back down to her and she plucked it from the air.

Amazing, she thought. And to think that, for once, it wasn't evil or dark spirits that were doing these things. It was the friendly spirits of the ancients.

Now ready to complete the final step, Vivian dashed through the power room, through the Computer Room, and down the stairs and into the ancient tomb, where she saw everyone else was already beginning to collect souls on their bows. That's probably why she had a sudden lack of Zombies; Samantha had been sending them to everyone else!

Daren spotted his friend and he quickly addressed her, "What took you so long?!"

Holding out the bow and the arrow, the chest opened and the two items were taken from her, as if grabbed by an invisible hand, and they hovered over the chest. She cocked her RPK and began to fire at the zombies that started to attack her. "Y'all crowded down here; I had no zombies for the vase sacrifices!"

"Can't help that we're quicker than you!"

"Shut up, Tank!"

No more words were exchanged. No more words  _could_  be exchanged. Everyone was far too occupied in gathering souls for their Bows. It seemed that Samantha upped the ante on the zombies as they could hardly even catch a break to reload their weapons. She also somehow managed to up the mount of souls needed for the bows; Vivian had been keeping count and they had all passed the average required amount. Was the damn kid  _trying_  to kill them all?

Well, of course, but why would she try killing them this way? Why not when they were all separated, and when Vivian didn't have Near Death Experience ready?

Unless she was just trying to tire them out, wanting to remind them all who was in charge and in power. Who could kill them with a single snap of her fingers, if she so wished. But no, she wanted to fucking play her games, to torture them, make them endure suffering that no human should ever have to endure.

It was more than enough for Vivian to get worked up and completely pissed off.

However, before she could fully act upon her anger, an extremely loud sound, almost like a groan, went off making most of them cover their ears in pain. At once, all the remaining zombies died, taking most of them by surprise.

They all were completely out of breath, the tomb filled with pants and wheezes. Guns  _clinged_  and magazines clattered to the floor, everyone (although being somewhat exhausted) full of energy and waiting for the next horde to arrive.

But no such thing came.

Daren sniffed and wiped at his nose, which was runny from the cold, damp underground. "Well, that was anticlimactic."

"Shut up, Daren..." She said.

/ / /

Everyone lounged around the main computer room, huddled around the giant fire in the fireplace. Thanks to some spare wood they found around the map, as well as Tank's matches, Nikolai was able to get a fire going while everyone carried out food from the main storage area in the castle. Although the food was rather plain, at least they were able to have bigger meals compared to a single can of beans. And it was warm, which was a bonus.

Edward, who had long since finished his own meal, scrubbed at his blood-soaked arms. "I am in desperate need of a shower..." He muttered.

Tank scoffed. "Good luck finding one, Richtofen. Maybe while you're at it you could find us a fucking unicorn."

Edward stood from the floor, his knees cracking as if in protest. "Although I cannot find you a unicorn, Dempsey, I can certainly find you a shower. Heaven knows you need it."

Scott looked up in shock. "Wait, you're kidding!"

Edward smirked and shook his head. " _Nein_ , my friend." He then gestured with his hand for them to follow. "Come, allow me to show you."

Scott was the only one to react instantly, and it took everyone else a few moments to follow along. They all really wanted to see for themselves if there really were showers, and if they'd actually have a full, proper cleaning.

/ / /

It was deeper into the castle that the shower area was. There was several of them, meant for a large group of people (most likely the people who had worked at this station). Each shower had its own set of cleaning products, soap and all! Edward approached one shower, tapping at the showerhead. "They had installed their own water system here, so the workers could stay clean. It also has its own heating system."

Edward turned the dial and water instantly came out, steam rising from it. Everyone looked at each other, excitement clearly written on their faces.

Vivian looked around the large room, seeing that there was no covers of sorts. It was a completely open room, and she gathered that it was because men had worked at the station and not women. She cleared her throat and rubbed at her arms (which were beginning to feel scratchy from the blood coating them). "Y'all can shower first, I'll shower once you guys are done."

"We can wait." Daren offered.

She quickly turned on her heel. Lord knew that a 'Canadian Standoff" as she called it (in which two or more Canadians battled for the right for the other person to go first, or have the privilege of doing something or being the most polite etc) would last forever. "I'm already gone!"

/ / /

Vivian carefully walked down the stairs, as if being heard would result in something bad. Really, it wouldn't, but she didn't want to go barreling down the stairs to find a naked man still down there. It was hard to hear if a shower was still going and the moist smell of steam along with soaps still lingered in the air, making it harder still.

She peeked around the corner and sighed in relief to see that nobody was showering still. Most of the men had made it known to her that they were done, but people like Takeo, Edward and Tank just went off without letting her know. so she had to be careful.

Satisfied that nobody was in the shower room, Vivian quickly stripped out of her clothes and hung them over a shower head, not wanting for them to get wet. Taking the shower next to it, Vivian turned the dial and water poured from the shower head, and she tested it to make sure it wouldn't scald her as soon as she stepped under it. Lukewarm, which was perfect! Satisfied that she wouldn't get burned, she ducked under the water, shivering slightly from the contact. She then groaned as the warm water washed over her, rinsing off the several days, weeks, of sweat, dirt and blood. The water ran slightly murky as it creeped towards the drain and she shuddered to think that  _that much dirt_  had accumulated on her skin and in her hair.

She ran her fingers through her hair, turning in the shower so she could crane her head back comfortably so the water would run down her back rather than over her face. She then grabbed the soaps and the brush and started scrubbing along her body, scrubbing off the remaining dried blood, creating a deep clean. God, this felt amazing!

Because she was so caught up in getting rinsed off, she was unable to hear that someone else had entered the shower room and had removed their clothing as well. She was also unable to hear them approaching her.

Vivian went to grab what she assumed was the shampoo but jumped and nearly squealed as she felt hands coming to rest over her breasts, giving them a slight squeeze. "Guess who?"

Tank chuckled as she let out a relieved breath, kissing her shoulder. "Sorry to startle you, kitten."

"My eyes are up here, Tank..." She said, a small grin on her lips.

Another kiss to her shoulder. "I know."

She leaned her head back against his chest as his hands traveled down further, slowly, almost as if trying to tease her. "Tank... here?"

"Mhm. Problem?"

"What if someone saw?"

"And why would they come back down to the showers?"

He had a point there. Despite that they were still technically out in the open, she relaxed herself a bit more and Tank continued to let his hands travel along her body and she shivered in response, slowly losing herself to the sensations.

They had time to themselves, and although there was risk to being caught, they still had some good privacy in the showers. Tank knew this, but he still had to make sure nobody saw him go back down or people would've been suspicious.

His deft fingers slipped between her legs and she moaned in response, her lips parting slightly as she gasped. "God, Tank!"

The Marine licked at her neck, gently nipping at the soft flesh there. "Just relax, baby..."


	10. Release*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is purely a smut chapter! If you are disturbed by this, PLEASE IGNORE THIS CHAPTER AS THERE IS NO IMPORTANT PLOT!
> 
> Also, preaching moment: PRACTICE SAFE SEX PEOPLE!! Use birth control, use condoms, just practice safe sex so you can prevent unplanned pregnancies and protect yourself against STD/STI's! Pulling out is NOT a method of safe sex, as pre-ejaculation CAN make you pregnant. JUST PRACTICE SAFE SEX!!

They had both agreed to move into their designated room before things got too intense down in the showers, after Tank nearly slipped and almost took Vivian down with him. While he dried himself off and left for the clock tower (so then nobody got suspicious if they saw them both heading for the room at the same time), Vivian finished cleaning herself, which only consisted of washing her hair out.

She only put on the bare necessities, her tank top, her jeans and her boots, because she had a feeling that there wouldn't really be a need for clothing once she got up into the bedroom. And jesus, was she ever right.

Tank had been waiting for her in the bedroom, clad in nothing but his trousers. She barely had time to even take off her boots before he had simply gathered her into his arms, pulling her in for a heated kiss. It had taken her a moment to respond, but once she gathered her bearings she returned the kiss with equal fervor, her tongue sliding into his mouth.

He picked her up, inciting her to wrap her legs around him, and he carried her over to the bed. Vivian felt his hands slide under her top and she quickly pulled it off and over her head, leaving her chest completely bare.

The instant her back hit the bed, his hands started to roam along her body and over her breasts, his fingers brushing over her firm nipples. "Damn, girl... barely touched you and you're already turned on."

She resisted the urge to smack his arm. "S-shut up! It's cold..."

Which really was a lie. The wood furnace was going so it was battling the majority of the cold from the one broken window away, and the cold coming in from the doorway downstairs seemed to be staying down, so it was only slightly chilly in the room. Tank chuckled and he squeezed her breast, eliciting a gasp from her. "Won't be too cold for you in a moment..."

She bit at her lower lip, the implication apparent in his voice. Damn cocky bugger, she thought.

Tank nuzzled into her neck slightly before his tongue flicked against it, making her body writhe underneath him. He made a mental note, reminding himself of one of her more sensitive areas. For another time, of course. His one hand slid down from her breast, down her abdomen, and over the hem of her jeans, making his intentions clear, clearer still once he started pulling down the zipper.

Her hands instantly shot to his, holding them in place. "Wait..." She gasped, still trying to collect herself. "Tank, are we gonna...?"

He shook his head slightly. "We don't have to if you don't want to, Vee."

She nearly slapped herself as the realization dawned on her. This is probably what he was expecting when she suggested they move into the bedroom. And true, she had no obligation to say 'yes' if she didn't want to, but she wanted to try, at least.

She released her grip on his hands. "No, I do, it's just... you're just really quick."

Tank raised an eyebrow, a mischievous grin on his lips. "I can take it a bit slower if you want me to, darling."

"No, it's... fine."

With a short nod, he pulled the zipper of her jeans down and he tugged at the hem of her jeans. Leaning back he pulled the pants from off her legs, leaving her completely bare. He took a short moment to look at her nude form, eyes roaming up and down her body. Her frame was mainly soft, rounded curves, a shape he rather preferred. Plump breasts, a soft stomach, some dark freckles dotted along her chest, arms and legs. Her skin was somewhat dark from the amount of time they spent outside in the past few years.

A damn fine woman, he thought.

Undoing the zipper of his own trousers, Tank slipped them past his hips, smirking as Vivian's eyes widened. "See something you like?"

She swallowed and licked at her lips. Of course, she had  _felt_  it but she had never actually seen it. Jesus... fuck this was going to be one helluva ride.

Pulling his trousers off, Tank crawled back over her, kissing her lightly on her lips. "You alright? You seem... nervous."

She quickly nodded, not wanting to stay on the topic for too long. When she was nervous things slipped, things that people didn't need to know. "Mhm."

Tank visibly hesitated and Vivian mentally cringed. If he was gonna ask what she thought he was gonna ask (and he was a perceptive little shit, so he'd get that feeling to ask first), then... honestly she didn't know how it was going to work. Would he care, would he still keep going, would it even-

"Vee, is this... are you... have you done this before?"

Goddammit...

She had intended to answer him right away, to try and make it seem less like it was. She didn't understand why she felt the need to lie to him, but she would rather he not fret over her and just get it over with. It wouldn't be too bad right?

Then she had hesitated. And he knew. The little shit knew already before she could even answer him!

So, the truth it was. Better to tell the truth and spare herself further embarrassment.

"No... no, I haven't."

Tank blinked a few times, seemingly surprised by her admittance. "Wait... you're a virgin?"

"Well, what made you think I wasn't?" She asked.

He sat himself up and took a deep breath, looking almost annoyed. Did she piss him off? Oh jesus, why does she always manage to do this? "Look, Vee, you could've just said so-"

"I didn't think it was important!" She retaliated, pushing herself up into a sitting position. "Besides, I didn't want you worrying or anything!"

Now he really  _did_  look annoyed, almost as if she had said the dumbest thing ever, like it should've been obvious to her. "Blue, this kind of shit is important. I'm no expert, but... I wouldn't wanna end up hurting you and making a bad experience out of this. That ain't right."

Vivian rubbed at her arms, almost as if she were ashamed. Embarrassed, more like, but still she looked almost ashamed to not have had sex before. Tank sighed quietly. "Lay back down darling, on the pillows."

She stared at him for a moment, confused, before it finally registered what he had told her. "Okay..."

She moved so she was at the head of the bed, laying her head down on the pillows. He was probably trying to get her to be more relaxed, she guessed. At first, she thought he was just going to get right down to it, until he had settled himself between her legs, hooking a knee over his shoulder. "Just relax, and enjoy yourself Blue."

Before she could even respond, Tank flicked his tongue against her slick folds, making her cry out in response, her back arching harshly. She immediately bit the back of her hand, not wanting to become too loud that they might be overheard by someone.

Tank chuckled, somewhat amused by how vivid her response was. They had been getting each other off for god remembers how long, the last thing he expected was for her to be screaming whilst he was eating her out.

All the more fun for him, of course. He could very easily learn what got her going, what gained the stronger reactions. And damn if anyone heard them. If they wanted to stick around, they could. But if they didn't, they had feet. They would leave the area. And hopefully keep their mouths shut.

He started off slowly, learning the ropes in a sense, getting to know what she liked the most. Languid licks, teasing flicks of the tongue, whatever he could think of. The sounds he elicited from her were damned sexy! Sure, he had made her moan and gasp whenever he had gotten her off in the past, but not quite like this.

Her breathing came in short pants, sometimes breaking off into a moan or a whimper. Her hands, she just couldn't keep still. The would tug at the sheets, grab the pillows, pull at his hair, anything except for one damn spot. Not that he cared, because that told him that he was doing well.

Feeling rather cocky, Tank suddenly applied his fingers, sliding them into her, curling them slightly. Her reaction was immediate; her back arching off the bed, her fingers pulling at his hair. "Fucking christ, Tank!"

"Mm?" He grunted.

Her body quivered as his tongue flicked against her clit, his fingers curling and twisting inside her. "Fuck, please," she gasped, "please don't stop!"

Although he did not quicken his pace, Tank applied a bit of extra pressure with his fingers, stroking at her inner walls, his tongue lapping at her pussy in long, languid strokes, flicking against her clit. He wanted to give her a more drawn out experience for her first time, and not something that was ended too swiftly. Although they were both in it mainly for the pleasure as well as the stress relief, he did not want to leave her feeling some sort of disappointment, like it had been over too quickly, or he had merely been in it only for the sake of his own pleasure.

Her body stiffened suddenly, but only for a moment, before a ragged groan and gasp escaped her mouth, her heels digging into his back, nails scraping along his scalp. " _Tank_!" She shouted, her voice cracking harshly.

The Marine slowed his pace, but not completely stopping, helping her ride out her orgasm. It wasn't until she started to whimper and shy away that he stopped. He got up from between her legs, hovering over her body and licking at his lips seductively. "How was that, darling?"

Vivian immediately wrapped her legs around his waist, suddenly wanting him closer. She pulled him down for a kiss, whimpering slightly at the contact. Jesus, why was she suddenly acting this way? She wasn't some horny teenager anymore. Well, not that Tank  _seemed_  to mind her sudden change in behaviour. In fact, it seemed to boost his ego as she heard him laugh slightly.

"I'll take that as an 'it was good', then?"

"Fuck, yes!" She breathed.

He laughed once more, pressing his forehead to hers. Tank allowed for her to catch her breath for a few more moments before his hips settled between her legs, making her stiffen slightly. "Baby Blue, I'm gonna have to ask you to relax for just a bit longer."

She nodded, her breath coming out slightly hoarse, like she was somehow suffocating. She knew it might hurt, but also knew it might not. She just needed to try and keep herself calm, not to tense up, just to simply let herself go.

She let out a short, but calming breath. "I trust you, Tank."

He gave her a short nod. "Alright, Vee."

Taking himself in hand, the tip of his cock pushed gently at her entrance, making her tense slightly before she relaxed her body again. He pushed inside of her, groaning slightly at the feel of her. Fuck, she was tight...

Vivian tightened her grip on him, feeling a slight amount of discomfort as he entered her. Although it didn't  _hurt_  like she had expected, she still felt stretched, almost painfully so. He was just so damned thick!

He let out a short gasp as he came to rest fully inside her, simply enjoying the sensations. How long had it been since he had last done this. A few years, he reckoned. Damn, did it ever feel good!

Tank kissed the tip of her nose. "You alright, Blue?"

Vivian nodded. "A little... uncomfortable. Doesn't hurt, though." She then moved her hips against his, making him moan in response. "You can... move. Please."

He nodded in response and slowly pulled out, then back in. He set a slow pace, at first, allowing her time to adjust to his size. Once she started moaning, started to move against him, he started to hasten his pace.

Although he was fairly quiet, Vivian was not. The room was filled with soft grunts and groans, short cries, gasps of surprise or pleasure, soft words of encouragement. It wasn't too long before she was getting completely lost in the sensations, her words becoming barely coherent.

She was getting close. And at the rate he had been going, so was he. It had been way too fucking long since he had last been with someone. Left his stamina low.

Something he would work on. But later.

Tank licked at her neck, making her body shudder almost violently. "You gonna cum, baby?"

She whimpered, most likely her attempt at a response. With a low chuckle, Tank put a hand between their bodies, his fingers rubbing her clit in a slow, circular motion. "Go on, baby blue, cum for me..."

Within a few short moments, Vivian bit into his shoulder to keep herself from screaming, making him wince in a mix of pain and pleasure. Her nails clawed at his back and she ground her body against him, her breath coming in short, ragged gasps.

He quickened his pace, his hips snapping harshly into hers. He was getting close too, and he felt that nagging feeling in the back of his mind. Fuck, he didn't want to listen. For once he didn't want to have to...

Then again, the consequences if he didn't...

He growled low, making Vivian shiver. Fucking christ, he thought, just fucking-

"Fuck..."

Tank suddenly pulled out from her, his seed spilling onto her stomach. His body shook heavily as he breathed out, his hands clenched into fists, grasping tightly to the bedsheets.

He kept himself propped up on his elbows, resisting the urge to simply collapse. He didn't want to crush her, first and foremost, and he also didn't want to make too much more of a mess.

He felt her rubbing his back in slow motions and he nuzzled into her neck, placing a soft kiss there. "You alright, Vee?"

"Mhm." She said. "You?"

He laughed quietly. "Damn fine, girl."

Taking a few more moments to catch his breath, Tank pushed himself from over her, now sitting at the edge of the bed for a few moments before grabbing something from the floor. His trousers? Or his jacket. She couldn't tell, or see. Her eyes were somewhat heavy-feeling, most likely her getting tired after...  _that_.

Tank turned around and wiped gently at the seed on her stomach with a cloth, surprising her only somewhat. He cleared his throat, tossing the cloth into a wooden pail at the other end of the room. "Sorry... " He apologized. "Just didn't want... you know."

She nodded and turned onto her side, nuzzling into the soft pillows under her. "Don't worry, hon."

Grabbing the spare sheet at the end of the bed, Tank covered her body with it, brushing his hands through her hair before standing up from the bed, picking up his clothes and putting them on. He then grabbed his cigarettes and started to head down the stairway. "I'll be back, Blue."

She made a small noise in response, curling up slightly as she felt sleep overtaking her.

Cute, he thought.

/ / /

He blew a puff of smoke, leaning heavily against the stone wall of the castle.

Tank didn't regret it. Not even a little bit. No, that wasn't why he was currently having a smoke after having sex with her.

He was just pissed at himself. He had almost lost control of himself, which was something he normally wouldn't do. He was a Marine, he was trained in self-discipline, he should've done better.

Tank flicked the last of the cigarette over the edge of the castle wall, blowing the final puff of smoke as he did. Granted, it had been a while since he last had had sex, but really that wasn't an excuse.

If he wasn't more careful, there could easily be consequences with his carelessness. They weren't really together, and this definitely wasn't the time or place to even be raising a kid if she ever got...

Tank shook his head and headed back into the tower, making his way back up the stairway (quietly, so he wouldn't wake her up). It wouldn't happen. As long as they both took extra precautions, they'd be fine.


	11. Game Over

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team suffers an unexpected turn of events, one in which they may not make it out alive.

Either she was just a heavy sleeper, or he had really tired her out. He had taken just a quick rest, woke up after an hour, and she was still sleeping, even after three hours.

That or she could have just been tired. Plain and simple. That was the first time in a  _long_  time that they had actually taken time to simply enjoy themselves. No stress, no nothing. They also had plenty of privacy, which was an added bonus to the 'no stress' factor.

It wasn't that he minded her sleeping either. She really looked cute with messy hair. She just looked cute in general.

Tank absentmindedly ran a hand through her hair, tousling it further. Maybe it was best to wake her up, because there was no telling when the meatbags might be back. And she also needed to explain the rest of the plan to them or they'd be like sitting ducks until the horde was gone. If it was as busy as it was earlier that day, anyways.

He gently patted her shoulder, making her stir slightly. "Blue, gotta get up!"

She turned over so her back was facing him, grabbing the covers and pulling them up to her neck. He couldn't help but chuckle at the motion. He moved over her, careful as to not fully rest on her, before he kissed her cheek. "Baby blue, come on."

She groaned and curled up, shaking her head slightly. "Don't wanna get up..."

He kissed her cheek again. "Do you want a bone-jaw eating you?"

Vivian turned onto her back, letting out a long sigh. "Mph."

Tank laughed, then, amused by her tired state. For someone who could have plenty to say, who could run almost faster than him when the time called for it, she had quite an amazing  _lack_  of energy.

He kissed her cheek once more, his lips hovering over her skin as he went lower, placing a kiss against her jawline. "C'mon, Baby Blue..." He shifted the bedsheet down, allowing some access to her neck where he placed a long, sensuous kiss. "Gotta get up, doll."

Vivian turned onto her back, letting out a deep sigh. "Seducing me isn't gonna make me get out of bed, Tank..."

He couldn't help but chuckle. She really  _was_  cute when she was tired. He almost didn't have the heart to get her up out of bed anymore. Just let the woman sleep, he thought.

Despite that, he still needed her to wake up. Now.

He suddenly removed himself from over her and went downstairs, leaving her alone once more. Thinking he was finally leaving her to sleep, Vivian turned back onto her side, letting out a large yawn. She knew she should really be getting up, but another half hour of sleep wasn't going to kill anyone. Probably.

Just when she felt herself drifting back off, she suddenly felt the covers being pulled away.

And a splash of cold all over her body.

She released an almost painful-sounding yelp and shot up from the bed, looking to see Tank barreling back down the stairs, cackling as he did. The little bastard just threw snow on her!

Shivering from the sudden shock of the cold, Vivian got herself up from the bed and shouted out the window, "Keep laughing, you little bitch, and we'll see what happens next!"

Tank called up to her from the courtyard, "I'll take my chances, Blue!"

With a heavy huff, Vivian reluctantly got dressed, muttering curses under her breath as she did. Oh, she'd definitely get him back, he just didn't think she would do it at all. He had said to her once during their travels that she was a 'typical Canadian' and was 'too nice to do anything rude'.

Boy, was he in for a surprise!

/ / /

He had joined the others down by the pyramid, waiting for Vivian to arrive. Since they all had their bows, they were ready to tackle the rest of the "Egg" as she started to call it. She said it could possibly be lengthy, but it was fairly simple with the seven of them.

Tank, the unfortunate lad, had his back turned to the doorway. Vivian chuckled quietly to herself. Well, it was unfortunate for  _him_.

Daren shrugged his shoulders slightly and crossed his arms. "Well, we just did it for fun. We didn't feel the need to finish it, or even do it at all."

"Would it not have been best for you to learn?" Edward asked him. "For situations like this, that is."

Scott shook his head. "We never thought it would be possible to even be in this situation at all, really. It was impossible, so why would we  _need_  to learn it?"

"Fair enough."

Everyone had been too focused on each other and their small conversations that they completely missed Vivian coming down the stairs and into the tomb.

With two handfuls of snow.

Tank, who was still unaware of his current predicament, was as calm as ever, listening to the conversation between Edward and the two Canadians.

"Hey, Tank!"

Before he could turn or even react, Vivian shoved snow into his face and then quickly pulled at the back of his jacket, dumping the rest of the snow down his shirt. The Marine yelped in surprise, lashing out on instinct as well as anger.

Vivian quickly launched herself out of the way of his swing, laughing almost maniacally as he struggled to decide if he should wipe off his face first, or take care of the freezing snow down his back. "What the actual fuck, Blue!" He shouted, spitting out snow from his mouth.

Takeo merely shook his head at the childish antics as the others laughed along with Vivian, whom was trying her best to regain her breath. "Don't say you didn't have it coming, Tank!"

/ / /

"So, the next part of the Egg requires us to play a little 'hide and seek' of sorts." Vivian explained, walking throughout the map with them. "There's these small blue... glowing things, that are hidden around the castle. They're called wisps."

She pointed up to the clock above where the dragon would be. "One can appear there," She then pointed to the shelf with the radio to the left of the room. "There, and in the power room on the shelf,"

She lead them out to the courtyard and pointed up to the walkway. "Up there, just past the stairs."

She then quickly lead them through the Trophy Room and through the tunnel, and into the main area in which they started at the castle. She pointed to the right as they went through the door. "On top of this shelf here,"

They went down the stairway and out towards the exit past the gondola, and Vivian then pointed to the car. "By the back wheel of the car," then she pointed above them, "On the shelf to the right of the doorway above us,"

She then lead them up the stairways, and through Samantha's room. "And finally, one here on top of the globe."

"Since we only have four upgraded bows, we're going to have to split each of you up into different areas." She pointed to Takeo. "You will be stationed in the courtyard area, so look in the Com Room itself and up the stairway." She then pointed to Nikolai. "You will be stationed in the upper floor area, so you check in the power room and the room above Double Tap."

She pointed to Tank. "You stay near the globe next to Samantha's room."

Edward then finished for her, "And I will stay near the Quick Revive machine and the car."

Vivian nodded and she gestured in a 'shoo' motion. "Okay, go to it then, no telling when the zombies will-"

She was interrupted by a loud roar, signalling the Zombies and their return. She looked to the group with a 'see?' look. "Now, Daren, Scott, keep the zombies off of everyone else while they wait for the wisps. They tend to get distracting. Once the wisps are done, y'all meet down at the Teleporter!"

She then quickly took off, through Maxis' room, through the Comm Room and then into the tomb, grabbing a bow for herself before heading to the Teleporter Room.

Pulling back the string, Vivian blew a lock of hair from her eye and fired at the 'prongs', which then would glow a Gold colour after being hit with the arrow. With a final pull of the string, she hit the final prong and the sound of a low growl could be heard throughout the castle base. She shivered at the thought of a Margwa, massive bastards they were. First time she had heard the growl she thought a Margwa had actually spawned on the map, to which she began running about the map, which lead to her demise after getting caught at the choke point between the pyramid room and the Comm Room.

Stupid sound effects.

She then heard a second growl and she made her way up the stairs, into the Comm Room, up the far stairway, and into the choke point beside the Power room, ready to keep the majority of the horde away from Nikolai and Tank.

Hopefully, with any luck, they would be able to fly through this and get to 'Samantha Says' before the end of the round.

/ / /

The small blue creature, what did she call it, a 'wisp' had appeared before his very eyes. An interesting creature, one he had never seen before. However, it did not seem to have any sort of mass and seemed to be something of a figment of his imagination, as it was not tangible.

Too bad, Edward thought, as it could've been something to experiment on if he ever had had the time or the chance.

He drew an arrow on the Wolf Howl before releasing it, sending it straight onto the wisp. The small wisp disappeared and he heard the unseen creature growl once more, signaling the movement of the wisp. Edward ran down the stairs and near the car and, upon not seeing it, allowed himself a moment to think.

Although Samantha had made it much harder for them to properly establish a good foothold in her 'game', Edward still felt that things were progressing too easily, once again. He had a feeling in his gut, one that put him on edge. Something was going to happen, something not good. He had felt it ever since Samantha had first increased the difficulty of her game.

She had something planned for them all. He knew it was close to happening, now if he could just figure out  _what_...

" _Scheiße_..." He cursed.

He heard a second growl and he started moving towards the teleporter room. She had said there would be four growls, so he knew to get going.

That's when he heard the sirens beginning to blare.

At first, he thought that they had merely messed something up. Vivian had said that they'd hear a 'buzzer' or siren of sorts if something was missed or if time ran out. However, she did not mention its' consistency or the length of the sound.

Then he felt the wind picking up speed. The last time something like that happened was back in...

He didn't even have to hear the roar of his creation in order to start running. Damn him and his inventive, scientific talents!

/ / /

Once again, he thought, it was getting to be too easy. Daren had a bad feeling in his gut, one he would rarely ignore. Sure, it could just be that he felt nervous not being on the rooftops sniping. It was his comfort zone, in a sense, as he knew he was useful up there rather than on the ground.

Stupid fucking Samantha decided to make that impossible for them now too.

"Hey, Scott?"

Scott sliced at the throat of a zombie, nearly beheading it. The blood of the undead poured to the ground, and the creature followed with it. He let out a huff before turning to his friend. "What?"

"Don't you think it's getting a little too easy again?"

"What, the game?"

His face deadpanned. "It's not a game anymore, Scott."

He brushed at his dirty blonde locks. "I know. And I know what you mean. I've been having this bad feeling for a while now, I can't shake it."

Takeo dropped from the upper balcony, slinging the bow over his back. "The undead seem to have diminished, but the battle is not over. Something else is coming."

After a few moments, sirens blared throughout the castle base, leaving each of them on high alert. The sirens sounded so familiar, but at the same time, it slipped their minds what it represented. Perhaps it was the 115 getting to them again.

Then the fog started to settle in.  _That_  they most certainly didn't forget what it meant.

"' _FETCH ME THEIR SOULS!_ '"

"Oh, fuck..." Daren cursed.

/ / /

She felt that there was something wrong, something was happening. She recognized the feeling from back at  _Der Riese_ , back before the hounds came in.

It would make sense, considering how the zombies were slowing down to a trickle.

Blood sprayed over herself and the wall behind the zombie she killed and she grimaced, attempting to wipe away most of the blood that made its way onto her face. One thing she did not enjoy about the Argus was how messy it would make the kills, especially with headshots.

Honestly it just felt disgusting how much blood got on her after a couple hours.

Nikolai came out from the power room, KRM in hand. "I do not think wisps will be here. I checked twice already."

He saw her looking slightly distressed and he immediately became concerned. "What is wrong, little bear?"

She shivered slightly, rubbing at her arm. "Something ain't sitting right in my gut. Something's up, and it isn't good."

Nikolai paused for a moment, allowing himself to settle before attempting to understand her feeling. He had had that feeling, many times before, but he didn't feel it now. Perhaps it was stress? This was a very stressful time, of course, so it would be understandable.

He was about to voice this, to try and ease her anxiousness, until he heard the sirens.

If he remembered correctly, sirens were not a good thing, especially when it came to the undead hordes.

He readied his KRM and placed his back against hers, hoping to whatever higher power was listening that the mechanic zombie wouldn't go for them in there. The smarter thing would've been to move, but not knowing where it was, he didn't know which way to start moving.

He heard Vivian curse, rather harshly, and she reloaded her guns. "Fucking Christ, I fucking  _hate_  Panzers. I  _knew_  something was off!"

She then felt the air become cold, well, colder than usual. Then the fog settled in. Her blood ran cold and her heart skipped a beat.

So this is what Samantha was planning for them.

"Nikolai,  _run_!"

He didn't even need to be told twice.

They didn't plan for this. They didn't plan to meet up anywhere if dogs came, and they most certainly were not expecting for the  _Panzersoldat_  to appear on this base. Caught completely unawares. No safe places to hide or even to rest for a moment. Too many choke points on the map, too many corners to get caught in, too many open spaces for zombies to appear.

"' _FETCH ME THEIR SOULS!_ '"

And now this bullshit!

Vivian was thankful that she went towards the Comm Room, so she could run to the box. An Argus and an L-Car would  _not_  work with Hellhounds and Panzers.

She jumped down the stairway and nearly skidded across the floor as she stopped in front of the box, kicking at it and making it open. She needed something stronger than any regular shotgun or SMG, even a regular rifle.

The box spun the weapons, changing, spinning its' little wheel of guns.

She needed something with a bit of  _oomf_ , with power and speed. Something with a good kick.

The box slowed.

Something like...

"Ha! Take that, Samantha!" She cried victoriously.

Taking the Haymaker from the box, she then dashed towards the stairway leading to the tomb, which also contained the Pack-a-Punch. With any luck, she would hopefully be able to pack the gun before the first Hellhound spawned.

And not get cornered, of course.

She handed the Pack-a-Punch machine her Haymaker and it pulled it in, and she bounced slightly on her feet, her palms suddenly becoming sweaty. She was alone and without a decent gun, if that fucking machine didn't pick up the pace...

The Pack-a-Punch barely pushed the gun out and she snatched it from the machine, using the 115 jump pad to get to the main courtyard. She had to keep moving, because if she kept moving, the hounds would have a harder time zeroing in on her and getting another chomp on her.

Just as she landed, a Hellhound lunged at her, its jaws snapping viciously. It was hungry, and it smelled its' prey.

Too bad for it, she thought; she never enjoyed being prey. For  _anyone_.

Using her Bowie Knife, Vivian slashed at the demon, causing it to explode. Charred bone and flesh stuck to her body, making her appear even more grisly. So much for that shower, she thought.

She heard the snarls of another hound and she headed down into the trophy room, and then down the paths that lead to the undercroft, near the gondola. She would just start going around the castle in a circular pattern, keeping the hounds trailing behind her. With any luck, she might run into someone else who could help to pick them off one by one.

She just didn't anticipate running into someone so soon. Or so hard.

An audible  _whoosh_  was heard as she ran into Edward full force, knocking the wind clean out of him. Despite his lack of oxygen, he was still able to keep the both of them upright, most likely due to the adrenaline.

"Edward, we need to move!" She spoke quickly, not wanting to waste anymore time.

Edward flinched as he heard the roar of the mechanical beast behind him, and Vivian's eyes widened further. There was no way they were in such a close proximity, she thought.

The Panzer rounded the corner from the door, growling as he saw the two humans before him.

She suddenly pulled Edward's hand, taking him along with her as she began to run once more. Practically pulling him up the stairs, she took him into the 115 jump pad. Once they landed in the courtyard, she released the grip on his hand and readied her Haymaker. "Stand your ground here, or move, your choice!" She snapped.

"Why here?" He shouted. "We are out in the open!"

Vivian tossed a widowed grenade at the ground, exploding and killing a Hellhound as it lunged at her. "Exactly!"

He fired the KN at the Hellhounds, taking a quick moment to think once more. What good could being out in the open have? Well, if he really thought about it, the Hellhounds couldn't jump walls or barriers the way the undead hordes did, they could only use ramps and stairways. So that gave them both plenty of time to see them and kill them before they got too close.

Clever girl!

In a sudden moment, they both felt that telltale pang in their heads, signalling their companions were down. Takeo and Scott. They had most likely been caught by the Panzersoldat.

Dammit...

Vivian was about to offer to go and get them, but Edward was already gone, shouting behind him, "I'll try and get to them, you stay here in case you need to get to someone else!"

She nodded in response and quickly moved towards the spherical launchpad, right underneath the balcony. She had played this map solo enough times to know that launchpads could be her best friend when she needed an escape.

One by one, the hellhounds came for her, all of which dying the instant she saw them, Once or twice, the widowed grenades would detonate, signaling that they were beginning to pick up their pace.

She pulled the trigger again on her Haymaker, grimacing at the bits and pieces of the hounds sticking to her exposed flesh. She then heard a roar, one that did not sound canine.

"Shit!" She cursed aloud.

Not knowing where the Panzer was, or even caring, she swiftly pushed the button, sending her launching into the air.

For a brief moment, she took a deep breath, feeling somewhat safe flying through the air. On her way towards the balcony, she met Daren in the air, who had used the Launchpad above double tap. They both laughed, waving to each other. "Hey, 'sup?" Daren called, making her laugh further.

It wasn't until she reached the ground that the realization dawned on her. The launchpad above double tap lead to the landing pad beside the clock tower. Which was above the courtyard.

Right where the Panzer was.

Vivian cringed as she broke the barrier on the balcony, sending her plummeting to the ground. No sooner than that happened, she felt another pang in her head.

Daren was down.

Not much she could do about it, really, considering that she had no way of knowing Daren was going to be heading that way anyhow.

With any luck, the Panzer would most likely hone in on someone else who was nearby, and not zero in on her. She could possibly get a trap going, maybe lead the hounds into it, make them die behind her while she takes care of what's in front.

That could work, she thought.

As she ran up the stairs, just barely missing the snapping jaws of a hellhound behind her, Vivian felt something in her head. Something wasn't right. Nobody else had gone down yet.

Unless...

Edward could be heard screaming from the other side of the map, his shrill cries of both shock and fear echoing throughout the crisp night air. So, judging from how loud it was, it was more than likely that he didn't manage to get to whoever was down, meaning they were down to (technically) four people, her being included in that number.

So, it was down to Edward, Tank, Nikolai and herself, unless someone got to whomever was downed. She could try to get to Daren, but with the mix of Hellhounds and a Panzer nearby, it was harder than one would think. A lot harder.

So, she took the initiative. She went towards the power room, hoping to meet Takeo somewhere where she could revive him.

He wasn't in the Power Room, so she quickly ran to the Comm Room, nearly tripping down the stairway as she did.

Upon looking around, Takeo could be seen sitting against the wall next to the door, his arm favouring his side. There was a lot of blood coming from his wound.

Snatching a needle from her pant pocket, Vivian dashed over to her downed companion, dropping to her knees and quickly assessing him. God, he looked pale. "Takeo, sweetie, you okay?"

Before the Japanese man could respond, A hellhound pounced on top of her, making her yelp in shock and pain as the flames of hell licked at her skin. The jaws of the demon snapped viciously as she tilted her head left and right, desperately trying to avoid the jaws. Her resolve slowly wavered as the flames burned through her flesh, its claws creating new lesions in her skin.

A gunshot rang out.

The demon burst, a ghostly bark being its final sounds. Charred pieces of the creature coated her body, making her grimace once more at the disgusting feeling of dried blood and burnt fur sticking to her.

She could feel herself being lifted up and she looked to see Nikolai. She saw crimson red flowing from an open wound on his cheek, making her gasp. "What happened?!" She asked.

He shook his head. "Do not worry, little bear. For now, we must go."

The large metal beast roared behind them and they both broke out into a sprint, heading down the stairs. For a brief moment, she worried about Takeo, but then calmed herself. If he was 'dead', he was safe from the hounds.

At least there was  _some_  sort of upside.

Nikolai was quick to kill the hounds as they rounded the corners of the stairway, allowing Vivian plenty of room to move around and reload her Haymaker. Once they reached the anti-gravity chamber, Nikolai ushered her to the teleporter, where Tank was waiting.

"Good to see you're alive!" She said, nearly tripping over the lip of the teleporter as she entered it.

Once Nikolai was in, he slammed the button on the inside, killing a Hellhound just before it could bite him.

In an instant, they were at the Rocket, taking those few moments of silence to catch their breaths.

Vivian looked around nervously. If they were the only ones alive, and they were grouped together, the Panzer would be going after them, and the Hellhounds would be as well.

"We need to keep moving!" She hissed, ushering them towards the launchpad. "If we stay clumped together, the Panzer will-"

The sound of sirens cut her off and a gush of wind pushed the three of them back. The Panzersoldat landed directly in front of them, letting out an inhuman roar as it did.

In an instant, the three of them scattered, almost confusing the mechanical zombie. He honed in on Tank, who was the closest to it. Just as the Panzer began its chase, the Hellhounds began to spawn, going after whomever they chose. Nikolai and Vivian tried their best to ward off the hounds as the Panzer attacked Tank, tossing an electrical container at him.

Throughout all the chaos, they did not pay attention to their surroundings, and the excessive noise left them unable to hear the warning sounds for the rocket test.

Until the hounds took a short break in spawning in.

Despite the roars of the Panzer, Vivian could hear loud and clear what was going on. She shouted at the top of her lungs, "Guys, we need to go  _now_!"

Nikolai waved her on. "Go, you are closer! We will distract the monster!"

She hesitated, the countdown getting dangerously close to zero. She wanted to stay, to help them. But she wasn't any help to them dead.

"Go,  _now_!" Tank shouted.

The countdown reached three, and it was getting unbearably hot...

With a growl, Vivian took off to the launchpad, pressing the button just in time before the rocket test area was engulfed in flames.

She landed in the gondola room, where she took another moment to breathe. So, from her understanding, they were all dead. She felt nobody else there, well rather, the absence of them there in her mind, that feeling she felt earlier. It was Scott dying. Then Daren went down, Takeo died next, then Daren after him. Although she didn't feel the pang of him going down, she could feel that absence of Edward. Now, of course, Tank and Nikolai were both surely dead.

So, it really was just her.

Vivian heard the howls of the Hellhounds spawning back in, and on instinct, she started running. Instead of heading into the anti gravity room, she went up the stairs to the right, towards double tap. If she wanted to keep ahead of the Hellhounds, she was going to want to keep a full circular motion, and not cut corners.

Dammit all, why did it always fall onto her?! Well, not always, but a great deal of the work always seemed to be on her.

Ah fuck it.

Hellhounds spawned left and right, some easy for her to spot, others nearly catching her by surprise. They bit at her ankles, snapped at her arms, growled and snarled in her face before she kicked them away or shot them.

There seemed to be no end to them, always coming at her, with no sign of a break. She was on her third rotation around the castle, and the round didn't seem to be ending.

On the ending of her third rotation, she took a slight detour and decided to go downstairs using the stairway below where Fred the Dragon was, and into the anti gravity room. It was changing up her normal path, which might give her a better edge in getting away from the hounds for a short time.

She thought it worked, considering the hounds didn't seem to be behind her anymore. Thinking she had a moment to herself, Vivian slumped against the cold stone wall, trying her best to catch what was left of her breath. If she didn't catch a break soon, she would most likely die from exhaustion.

Reloading her Haymaker once more, she rounded the corner from the stairway, keeping a close eye behind her in case a hound decided to try and surprise her.

Not paying attention of what was in front of her, Vivian bumped into something, something that was large enough to knock her clean off her feet. Most likely a wall, considering she wasn't even paying attention. She could've easily short-turned the door and ran into the side of it.

Those were all very reasonable explanations. However, they were not the correct ones. And oh dear god, did she ever wish that at least one of them was.

She heard a growl, not an feral, inhuman one, but one from that of a machine. An angry machine.

Upon looking up, Vivian saw the menacing stare of the  _Panzersoldat_ , still alive, but slightly charred. Goddamn, does this thing have an off switch?!

She backed away from the creature, fear replacing the adrenaline in her body.

With an angry roar, the mechanical zombie leaned down and snatched her by the throat, slowly, menacingly, lifting her up from the ground. The Panzer was a good solid seven or eight feet tall, and she almost barely reached five-foot-six. It held her far above the ground, leaving her no room to grab a footing and help ease her body up.

As she slowly lost air, her limbs becoming loose and rubbery from the lack of oxygen, the Panzer suddenly slammed her into the ground, making her groan in pain. Just before she could recover, the Panzer brought a foot down onto her head.

Done. She was gone.

Game Over.


	12. The Blue Forest

Vivian woke with a gasp, as if she had just been strangled. When, she  _had_  been strangled, but judging from the lack of cold metal around her neck, she doubted she was being choked to death anymore.

In fact, there was a complete lack of Panzersoldat. And it was surprisingly warm. And somewhat dark.

She groaned as she felt an increasingly intense pain form in her head, almost as if she had a migraine. Well, she was glad she even still had a head after what that machine did to her.

Suddenly there was a bright light and she winced, growling at whatever was intruding. "You're finally awake, I see."

Vivian let out a sigh of relief and laughed almost breathlessly. "Edward, feels good to hear your voice! Is everyone else okay?"

The light left and she heaved another sigh of relief, now being able to open her eyes once more. "Are you experiencing any pain anywhere?" He asked her, kneeling down beside her. "Any pain in your head or any trouble breathing?"

She nodded, wincing as he brushed back her hair to check for wounds. "Yeah, I have a pounding headache. Hurts a lot."

"You do keep some injuries from before you die completely. Some injuries are from how you died as well, like Takeo. He had been cut open by the  _Panzersoldat_ , and currently has a cut over his rib cage, although not quite as severe as when he had actually been cut open. Your head injury is likely due to the  _Panzersoldat_  crushing your skull." He stated simply. "That... was not easy to witness, I shall admit."

Seeing no substantial injuries to her head, he was now satisfied and his worry dropped. Vivian rubbed at the back of her neck, rolling her shoulders. "Speaking of which, how am I not dead. How aren't any of us dead?"

Edward could not provide her with much of a response. "Well, hypothetically speaking, we are. But not in the sense that you may be thinking."

He allowed her a few moments to process what he said before he stood, ushering her to do the same. "Come, you need water and food. The others are also worried about you. You had been... gone, for quite a while."

Standing, although slowly due to her sore limbs, she gave Edward a quizzical look. "How long was I out for?"

"Since we have been awake? Nine hours."

He opened the flap of the tent and lead her outside, where the others were a short distance away, a campfire lit between a circle of logs. They were obviously in a forest, but the only odd thing about this forest is that it was surrounded by a blue glow, and zombies roamed just outside where the campfire light touched.

It had taken her a moment to fully realize where they were.

It was the blue forest, as she called it. The main menu screen for zombies.

Man, she thought, this looked pretty cool!

The sound of them approaching the campfire made everyone turn their heads, and they all seemed to breathe a collective sigh of relief at the sight of Vivian. Although slightly bruised and banged up, she seemed to be okay.

As she sat down on the log, placing herself between Nikolai and Takeo, she assessed her companions.

They all seemed somewhat worse for wear, each of them decorated with bruises, bandages and healing cuts. Nikolai had a bandage patch on his cheek, which she knew was the cuts she saw, as well as a few burn scars from the rocket test. Most likely got swiped from a Hellhound, which caused the cuts on his cheek. Takeo was shirtless and had a large bandage wrapped around his abdomen, which was slightly red from the blood. Tank had a few burn scars as well, as well as a bandage on his cheek and one above his eyebrow. Probably got knocked around by the Panzer before being burnt to a crisp.

She looked around the fire once more, seeing that they were missing someone.

"Hold on, where's Daren and Scott?"

Everyone looked at one another, the expressions on their faces grim. Her eyes darted between them, now feeling uncertain. "Are they still not up yet?"

Edward suddenly approached her, a metal mug in hand. She took it, smelling at it curiously. Smelt like pomegranate or something, and it was warm. Most likely tea. "It's to help with your headache." He explained, taking his seat on a stump next to Tank. "And with... other pains."

She took a sip of it, licking her lips. It was surprisingly sweet, and she wasn't a tea drinker, so this was a first for her. "What other pains?" she asked, now becoming frustrated. "Why aren't you guys answering me?"

Takeo cleared his throat, drawing her attention. "Scott had been attacked by one of the demon dogs, his chest cavity torn open." He explained. "Although I was able to lure the hounds away, I was unable to get back to him and aid him."

Vivian felt her heart beginning to sink, and her hands beginning to shake. There was absolutely  _no way_  he could've...

The Japanese soldier swallowed, his eyes not daring to meet hers. "He had bled out. Died. And his soul was... taken."

She suddenly downed the rest of her tea, not caring for the burning of her tongue. She had to get rid of the tea before she ended up dumping it from how hard her hands were shaking. "W-wait, what about Daren?!" She asked, her voice filled with hope as well as dread.

"We are unsure as to what had happened to him," Edward answered her. "But... he too, is gone."

Her body suddenly went still, the trembling gone, as she stared into the fire, her eyes barely moving.

Edward watched her expression carefully, waiting for some sort of reaction. Upon watching, he could see the look in her eyes harden and soften many times.

It was amazing how the human mind could work, he thought. He could see just from her eyes, how she was already beginning to go through the multiple stages of grief, an understandable reaction. But what made him marvel was how quickly she was going through them.

He should have expected it from her, he supposed, considering how much she had gone through as a child. If he remembered their conversations correctly, she had suffered many losses in her life, some of them minor, a few of them major. If she knew the circumstances well enough, she understood why those losses had happened, getting her through the stages of grief quicker.

Vivian suddenly took a deep breath, in through her nose, and then out through her mouth. She set down the metal mug on the ground, her hand shaking slightly. "I guess... I should have seen it coming." She said, her voice calm and collected. "This is a goddamn apocalypse, it was to be expected that this would happen."

She suddenly stood from her spot on the log, rubbing at her temples as she did. The sudden change in pressure sparked some pain from her headache. "Well, I am tired." She said, heading towards the tent she came from. "I am... just going to need some sleep."

As she headed back to her tent, she could hear Edward say, "Just leave her to mourn. Hopefully, by the end of the week, we can formulate a new plan and-"

She didn't hear the rest. She didn't need to. Vivian shucked off her jacket and then her boots, setting herself down on the sheet below her and then pulling another thin one over her.

It wasn't until then, out of the sight of the others, that she allowed herself to cry.

Her two best friends were gone. Done. Just, dead. She wasn't able to say goodbye, or see their bodies or just be able to give them a proper burial. They were just gone from her life in an instant, no warnings, nothing.

She sniffled and wiped at her tears.

She had known them ever since high school. To have them just die like that... it broke her heart. And knowing that she'd never see them again made it a lot worse.

Vivian curled into a ball, hugging the sheets tighter against herself.

Shit.

/ / /

Everyone else was still sleeping, somehow. Probably because of the seemingly never-ending night. Or probably because they were all still very tired after the exhausting 'adventure' they had had several hours beforehand.

Vivian, however, was completely awake. She wasn't certain how, considering what she had been through. She  _did_  feel tired, although not mentally. Physically, perhaps. But not mentally. Not quite, anyways.

She was replaying the events that had transpired through her mind, constantly on repeat. Trying to think of a way it  _couldn't_  have been avoided, that maybe it really wasn't her fault.

But it was. Dammit, it  _was_  her fault, nobody else's. If she had just been smarter, or made a better plan, none of this would've happened! Maybe if she had gathered everyone up, kept them all together, then they might've had a fighting chance!

Then Daren and Scott would have fucking lived.

She sighed and shook her head, rubbing at her temple. Jesus, why couldn't she have just been smarter...

She heard a scuffle of feet and she whipped around to see Takeo approaching her, his long hair down and slightly disheveled. She put a hand to her chest and let out a breath. "You need to learn to stop sneaking up on people like that!" She hissed. "Scared the hell outta me."

"I apologize for startling you, for that was not my intention." He approached her and sat beside her on the log, looking towards her almost expectantly.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Something you need, Tak?"

He crossed his legs, getting himself into a more comfortable position. A sign he felt he was going to be there for a while. "I sensed a degree of distress. A sorrowed soul. Is there something wrong?"

"Nothing that won't blow over if I sleep on it." She gave him a small smile. "I'll be fine, hon."

He didn't move, clearly unconvinced by her facade. She smacked herself mentally. Of  _course_  he wouldn't believe her. He's one of the most perceptive people in the group, he  _knows_  when something is off. Always.

She sighed again and looked back towards the fire, watching the flames dance and crackle. "Look, what had happened was all my fault. I should've planned it out. Dammit, I  _knew_  Hellhounds could come into the castle, I should've made a gameplan for them!" She put her head in her hands, tugging at her hair slightly. "It's just my fault that we ended up here! It's my fault that Daren and Scott died! And once we get back to the castle, we start from square one! I should've been paying more attention, and when that Panzer came for me? I should've just fucking shot it instead of backing up like a coward!

He listened. That's all he could or would do. He listened to her berate herself, blame herself, put all of the fault on her shoulders. He listened to her criticize herself for her own actions, he listened to her cry, he listened to her apologize.

At that point, he had had enough.

He placed a firm but comforting hand on her shoulder, nearly startling her. "Vivian, nothing had ever been your fault." He stated. "Why do you believe yourself the catalyst of failure, whenever it happens? Why do you always apologize for such pointless things?"

Vivian sniffled, beginning to crack her knuckles. A habit she really needed to break. "Look, it's... just how I was raised."

"How you were raised?"

She cracked her index finger, then her middle finger. "Yeah. I never had anyone to blame but myself, my parents always told me. I got in trouble at school because I got angry and swore at a kid who was bullying me?" She shrugged. "I should've been the bigger person and ignored it. I'm still in trouble." She cracked her ring finger, then her pinky. "Got into a fight with my parents? I should've respected them, even if they are yelling at me. It's me who's to blame for bad behaviour, not them."

She took one deep breath, in through her nose, out through her mouth, doing her best to calm herself. "I was never taught that sometimes it isn't my fault. Like, I know it isn't sometimes, but I still blame myself because I know I could've done better. It's just how I was raised, and it still sticks with me to this day."

Takeo hesitated for a moment, considering her words and choosing his next ones carefully. Well, somewhat. He needed to tell her things as they were and not beat around the bush about them. But he also couldn't be blunt to the point where she just doesn't listen to him.

"Well... perhaps it is about time that you begin to accept that, not everything is your fault." He started. "We are all human, we all make mistakes. It is impossible not to, lest we never learn and grow. Sometimes, we do make mistakes we regret and would rather not discuss amongst others."

He uncrossed his legs and turned his body so he could face her, grabbing her full attention. "But we must all live up to the mistakes that we make, such as I did. I will admit, that I had not acted the way a teammate should have. I had separated myself from Scott, thinking that he would be alright... and then a hellhound had attacked him."

Vivian clenched her fists, swallowing hard, her teeth grinding together.

"It was not your fault for his death, it was mine." He continued. "If I had stayed with him, we could have fended off the beasts together. Not everything falls upon your shoulders, child."

She let out a sigh and looked to him, a small smile on her lips. "I also don't blame you fully for Scott's death. You did all that you could have done, so don't you beat yourself up too much either." She went to hug him, at first, but then settled with patting him on his shoulder. "Thanks, hon." She sniffled, wiping away the tears. "May not seem like it, but your words do mean a lot to me."

He bowed his head slightly, flashing her a rare smile, before he stood. "I shall return to my tent. You should as well, and get some rest."

She nodded but stayed seated. "I'll get to bed in a few moments. I'm just... going to think over what you said."

He stood there for a moment, somewhat doubtful of her words, before he walked back to his tent, finally leaving her to her thoughts.

Despite the comforting words that he had spoken to her, it still didn't make Vivian feel any better. Yes, his words  _did_  mean a lot to her, but they didn't spare her from the pain she was still feeling over the losses she had suffered.

Her thoughts haunted her, told her she had failed, that she had let her friends die. She should have tried harder, she should have made a plan. It was her fault she didn't tell them about the hellhounds, so it was her fault they didn't group up after they came.

Her fault for  _everything_.

As her thoughts swirled around in her head, her eyes glanced down at a knife on the ground, probably what was used to open up the cans earlier that evening.

She reached over and grabbed it, inspecting it closely. It looked sharp and seemed clean enough, so it most likely wouldn't cause an infection.

Vivian pulled her jacket off and put it on the ground and she placed her arm down on her leg and exposing the many scars on her left wrist and forearm. Just another pain to add on to her little canvas, she thought, just another bad feeling, cut away.

She put the tip of the blade to her skin, pressing down, already beginning to draw blood.

She suddenly stopped, her pain briefly put to the side as she remembered.

' _You come to me instead._ '

Her grip on the blade tightened and her teeth grit together, now debating as to if she should really listen. He had said no matter what time, or where they were... but should she really wake him up over something so petty? It wasn't that big of a deal, in her mind.

But to him, it was. He would feel upset, betrayed even, that she had gone back on her promise to him.

In an instant, she dropped the blade, standing up and walking over to their tent. She was quick to open the flap of the tent and drop to her knees beside him. Vivian shook his shoulder slightly, not too rough so she wouldn't scare him awake. "Tank?" She whispered.

He stirred, but didn't fully wake. She shook his shoulder again. "Tank, please wake up." She said a little louder, her voice beginning to tremble.

His eyes opened slowly and he let out a yawn, looking up to see Vivian. "Mm, time to wake up already?"

"N-no." She replied, starting to choke up. "I just... can't be left alone right now."

Tank, hearing her beginning to cry, instantly shot up, rubbing the tiredness from his eyes. "Hey, what's wrong Vee?"

She wanted to reply, to tell him what she had nearly done, but all that came from her was a sob, tears flowing freely from her eyes. He swiftly pulled her in for an embrace, his hand running through her hair. "Hey, it's okay, baby blue. I'm right here."

Her arms wrapped around him and she buried her face into his shoulder. "No, it's not okay! I killed them..."

"No, Vee, it ain't your fault." He kissed her head, his heart beginning to ache, not just from how much pain she was in, but also from the words she had said. He understood her grief and her self blame, but to believe she had killed her friends, when in reality she had no control over what happened, just from a slip up they  _all_  had done... she must have had a lot of emotional stress on her shoulders to believe herself to be so guilty, both short and long term stress.

He held his girl close, rubbing her arms in a comforting motion. He would kiss her head, rub her back, do his best to keep her emotions from spiraling out of control. The last thing he wanted was to have her become an emotional wreck, the last thing he wanted was for her to become extremely depressed.

He didn't want her hurting herself over this.

It would take time, most certainly, to get her out of this rut. But Tank was more than willing to take that time to help her.

/ / /

Although the sun did not shine in the forest, the light had changed colour from deep, ghostly blue to a pale light blue, that being the only sign for 'morning' (or rather, what counted for it in this realm).

Nikolai had woken earlier than he normally did, stretching himself out with a large yawn. His lover still slept soundly beside him and he couldn't help but smile. He looked so peaceful as he slept, he thought, brushing Takeo's raven black hair from in front of his face. He did look really handsome as well, he had to admit.

He placed a kiss on his head before leaving the tent, now able to fully stretch himself out. The fire had long since died out, turned into smoldering coals, and he could see that Edward was already awake, sitting on a log and reading one of his books. It seemed that Dempsey and Vivian were still sleeping as well.

He sat down on a stump and scratched the back of his neck, rolling his shoulders to get the rest of the stiffness out of his body. He nodded to the Doctor. "Good morning."

Edward nodded absentmindedly but said nothing, making Nikolai roll his eyes. Typical of the man, he thought

They sat in silence, not saying a word to one another. Nikolai still didn't really trust Richtofen, as he still had a bad feeling about the German. And it appeared that he didn't care, but Edward was aware of his distrust at least.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked to see Takeo, who took a seat on the stump next to him. "Did I wake you?" The Russian asked.

"No, you did not." Takeo replied, running his fingers through his hair. He did not quite feel the need to brush through it, considering he wouldn't be pulling it into his usual bun. If he was, he would brush it as he didn't wish for his hair to get tangled or end up having a knot in it.

The three of them sat in silence, waiting for the last two to wake up. To do what, they were not certain. There was not much to do beyond eating, resting and recuperating. Perhaps playing a few card games until they became bored of it.

/ / /

Tank had woken up first but found that he could not really get up, so to speak, as he had a certain Canuck holding him down.

She must have shifted around in her sleep, he thought. Vivian was now facing him, her arms wrapped around his torso and her face nuzzling into his chest. It was kind of cute, but only slightly.

Her face still had remnants of dried tears, and her hair was a god awful mess. Her brows were also furrowed slightly, making her appear uncomfortable and sad.

Tank let out a quiet sigh and gently stroked her hair, kissing the top of her head. "Wasn't your fault, Blue..." He whispered.

He lied there for several moments, simply holding her. Just when he started to feel stiff, he felt her stir and heard her groan. He looked to see her yawn slightly before she opened her eyes. "Mm... g'morning..." She muttered, another yawn escaping her.

He kissed her head again and rubbed her shoulder slightly. "Mornin', Blue. You, uh... feeling a bit better?"

Vivian nodded her head and nuzzled back into him. "Sleeping helped me to relax." She replied. "I'm still damn miserable, though."

"A reasonable way to feel. Don't worry, we're all here for you."

They both lied there for a few more moments before she released her grip around him and sat up. "We should probably get up. See if there's shit to do today." She said with another yawn.

She exited the tent and winced slightly at the bright light, using her hand to shield her eyes from it. "Sheesh, you'd think it'd be less bright cuz there's no fucking ball of lava to make daylight..." She complained.

Tank snorted. "Nope. Still damn bright in the mornings."

Her eyes still slightly closed, barely able to adjust to the sudden change in brightness, she wasn't able to really see much of where she was going.

In hindsight she should've maybe put her boots on. But hindsight was rarely ever helpful.

Vivian felt her toes bump into one of the stumps and she leaned heavily against it, flexing her toes in an attempt to ease the pain. "Why couldn't mother nature make trees fucking  _softer_  at least?!" She hissed.

She then sat down on the stump she bumped her toes against, letting out a large yawn once again. "'Morning, everyone."

She got a few quiet 'good mornings' from the other three and she rubbed her eyes. "So, what do you guys do for an entire week? Aside from heal up, of course."

Tank sat on the log next to Edward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Not much, really. We need to put all our energy into getting better, depending on our injuries. Most of the time we just play card games, or just..." He shrugged. "Things."

She nodded. "Oh..."

So, I'm going to be bored, she thought. She had the least worst injury, her headache pretty much being gone. Of course, the burn scars from the hellhound were beginning to ache slightly now that she isn't constantly moving. She'd have to talk to Edward about it the next chance she got.

She quickly got up and went back to her tent and found her pack in there. Pulling it out, she brought it back to where she was sitting and opened it up.

The book and ink was still in there.

A small smile appeared on her face as she sat back down on the stump and pulled out the book and the ink, and then the calligraphy pen. Vivian set the ink down on a stone that was next to her stump.

"Well, at least I won't be completely bored." She said jokingly.

/ / /

_3 Days In..._

Vivian winced and grasped tightly to her own knee, the pain starting to become extremely apparent. "What is it with you doctors and making sure your patients feel pa-"

"I am trying my best, Vivian, to ensure there is  _less_  pain!" He interrupted her, his hands working quickly over her back and neck. "It is hard to do with open scars compared to freshly-made wounds."

Tank had noticed there was very dark spots on the back of her tank-top and upon taking a look, some areas of her burn scars had split open and were bleeding almost profusely. They had alerted Edward who had immediately set himself to work on the wounds.

He had been working on them for almost two hours now.

He had said stitches would not be wise as they would be hard to do anyways considering he would have to pierce scarred flesh, and antiseptic and alcohol could only do so much to prevent infections.

So, he had to stick with stiff bandages in an attempt to keep them closed. But it was proving difficult because of the location of the burn scars. Since they were located on her back, which moved very frequently. In fact it never  _didn't_  move. So the bandages would constantly be shifting along with her.

Vivian craned her neck slightly to look at the German. "Can't you just use some of that serum stuff?" She asked. "It always seems to heal the worst of injuries!"

"We do not have the serum available to us here." He answered. "We can only use whatever is available to us."

She sighed and turned back around, wiggling slightly to get rid of the stiffness in her legs. "Of course..."

After a few more moments of him trying to bandage the wounds, she started to become impatient. "Okay, you know what, just stitch them!"

" _Was_?"

She turned her head around once more. "Stitch the damn things! It's better than sitting around for another two or three hours."

Edward looked into her eyes for several moments, trying to see if there was any form of jest or deception, or perhaps uncertainty.

None.

Shaking his head, the German took the needles and thread from his personal medical kit, preparing them for the procedure he was about to do. "You do realize this will hurt." He stated.

"Well, you don't need to be  _that_  blunt about it..."

Edward took a clean cloth and poured a bit of antiseptic on it. He then wiped around the wound he was going to stitch, making sure the area was clean and clear of any dried or fresh blood. He then took the curved needle and began to make quick work of the stitches, doing his best not to try and simply ram the needle through the scarred skin.

It was most certainly tougher, which only made the job more difficult, but it was at least doable.

Vivian was trying her best to not lash out or move away from the needle that was piercing her back. He was right, it  _did_  hurt. A lot. But if it meant getting the wounds cleaned and healed up, then it would be worth it.

He finished the first wound quickly, tying off the string and rubbing the area around the stitch to ease the skin and hopefully ease some of the pain. "One more." He said.

"Which is a long one."

He didn't respond as he cleaned the needle, putting a new length of string through it afterward.

He heard her hiss and saw her fist clench as he started working on the wound, which was located right on her shoulder blade.

How the scars on her back had split open in the first place, he wasn't entirely sure. Originally, it made sense, but now it didn't. Scars normally wouldn't split open if taken proper care of. In fact, scars were like skin, flesh, except it was new skin that formed in place of a wound as it healed.

Odd.

Just as Edward was finishing up with the stitches, Tank had opened the flap that lead into the tent. "The hell is taking so long, Doc?"

Vivian sighed heavily. "Calm your man-boobs, Tank, he's almost done. I think."

"Indeed." Edward said, cutting the string and then tying it off, once again rubbing around the stitches. "Try not to do anything strenuous, Vivian."

Vivian stood and grabbed her brassiere, quickly slipping it on. "I'll try not to. There isn't much else to do that's strenuous anyways."

Once she got her tank-top back on, she exited the tent, allowing Edward to clean things up. "Thanks, Eddie!" She called back over her shoulder.

The sky had turned back into a darker blue, the 'night' having arrived while he had been working on her wounds. She rolled her shoulders slightly, wincing at the stitches on her shoulder blade.

"You didn't have a shirt on in there."

She looked to Tank. "Yeah?"

The Marine stopped walking and turned to face her. "He didn't touch you or anything, did he?" He asked, now incredibly concerned.

Vivian rolled her eyes and tutted him with a light tap on his shoulder. "Tank, he's a doctor. And I was a patient. He wouldn't blatantly abuse his position like that." She started walking back towards the campfire, where Takeo and Nikolai were currently busying themselves with a card game. "Besides, he's gay."

He stood there for a few moments, completely stunned by what she just told him. He shook his head and followed quickly behind her. "Wait, what?"

"You heard me."

/ / /

_3 Days Later..._

Tank turned around and subconsciously reached out, ready to pull whatever or whomever was next to him closer. For more damn heat.

When his arm wrapped around nothing but open air, only then did he open his eyes.

Wait, she was awake?

He took a few moments to fully wake himself up before heading outside. Upon exiting the tent, he looked to see Vivian sitting on the log, writing something in her book rapidly, constantly having to dip her pen in the ink that was set beside her.

With a large yawn, he approached her, stretching out his limbs. "Mornin', Blue. What you doing up so early?"

"It's been six days." She replied, not bothering to look up at him as she continued to write things down. Or draw, he really couldn't tell what she was doing. "We need to start to make a gameplan. We need to make just a plan in general, so we know what to do. From what I understand, this is our last day here before we head back to the castle, where we get one last day before the zombies arrive. Right?"

He plunked himself down on a stump across from her. "Yeah, but what of it?"

She dunked her pen in ink once more and started going at her notes more slowly, as if she was making some sort of fine detail. "So, if we plan out what we are going to do today, we can do a little mock up or something of it tomorrow once we get back to the castle. Or at least have a better visual as to what we're going to do."

He processed what she told him before he nodded and shrugged his shoulders. "Fair enough, I guess."

Vivian kept working at her notes silently, pausing every so often only to let the ink dry before she flipped a page or kept going on the same page. Once the other three woke up, she hastily finished up her notes before she addressed them. "Okay, so, since you're all finally awake, we can finally start discussing our plan for when we get back to  _Eisendrache_."

Nikolai yawned widely. "What is it with you and plans, little bear? Every time we went to new place, you had plan."

She waggled her finger slightly, a smirk on her face. "If you fail to plan, Nik, you plan to fail."

She flipped the pages in her book until she found the page she was looking for. "Okay, since we are... a little less in numbers, our groups will be a little bit different." She gestured to Tank and Takeo. "You two are going to be partnered together this time. Tank, you handle LMG's pretty well, and Takeo could easily cover your back if you need to reload." She then gestured to Nikolai and Edward. "You're both going together because Nikolai, you favour shotguns a fair bit and Eddie, you prefer SMG's over anything else, or rifles."

"What about you?" Tank asked.

Vivian shrugged. "Meh, I'll be coming around if any of you guys need help. Otherwise, I'm on my own. I work better alone anyhow."

He crossed his arms. "And if you end up in a rut again?"

She waved her hand dismissively. "We'll get to that when we get to that, for now we need to focus on the main plan."

/ / /

Vivian closed the book and let out a short breath. "So, any questions?"

The four men looked between each other, somewhat confused but also at the same time, understanding of what she had just explained to all of them.

Takeo was the first to ask a question. "What of the demon hounds?"

She nearly slapped herself. " _Right_! Okay, so, if we end up with Hellhounds on us, all we need to do is gather in the main courtyard, outside of the Comms Room. It's easier to handle them there. And, in the case of a Panzer, just don't get electrocuted or grabbed. Or shot at." She shrugged. "Just lead it to the rest of us so we can help take it out."

"And if we end up with the  _Höllenhund_  and the  _Panzersoldat_  at once?"

"Same as before, Eddie. We stay in the courtyard and the Panzer and hounds will come after us there. If it comes to it, we need to split into our groups, and I promise not to go alone. I'll tag with one of the groups."

"And the boss fight?"

"Tank, I told you, I'll explain only once we get to it. It's easy, but it can be stressful."

When all of them fell silent, Vivian set down her book. "Alright, so, we are all agreed that we'll get this completely figured out once we arrive at the castle tomorrow?"

They all nodded.

"Good."

She grabbed the large deck of cards that was sitting on the ground. "So, to get our minds off things for a while, how's about we play some Cheat?"

/ / /

Sleep was not coming easy for her, once again.

The day went by swiftly, filled with a lot of card games and just some recreational activities, and one final look-over of their wounds, courtesy of Edward. He wanted to make sure they were all in at least a functional condition. Takeo had the worst of it, of course, his injury not completely healed, but he told them not to worry about it.

But she did. And she also just got herself super stressed over what was going to happen once the zombies arrived at  _Eisendrache_.

And she was also just scared. After what happened to Daren and Scott, she didn't want anything else bad to happen. Or she might be responsible for more blood spilled.

Vivian turned onto her side and looked to Tank, who was fast asleep.

The Marine who seemed to know no fear. Who seemed to be able to handle any situation. Who seemed to be calm and rational when needed. Who always had their backs, always looked out for them.

Oh, what she wouldn't give for some of his courage.

She put herself onto her back and closed her eyes, willing herself to sleep.

Tomorrow wasn't going to be all guns-a-blazing, the zombies wouldn't be there. She could relax, just settle down and kick back for one more day.

Before it was back to slaughtering the undead.

"Jesus..." She huffed.

/ / /

She was shaken awake, which caused her to grab at whatever was touching her.

"Blue, calm down, it's just me!"

She looked up to Tank and shoved his hands off of her. "What is it with you and scaring me awake? Did it once back at  _Der Riese_ , and now here! Is this gonna become a regular thing with you?"

Tank let out a loud laugh. "You're way too easy to scare, Vee." He gave her shoulder a couple of pats before removing himself from the bed. "Come on, you said we'd go over the plan today."

Once she sat up and looked around, she could see that they were back in the castle, back in their little room in the clock tower. Everything was still the way it was; the swastika flag torn to shreds, the  _Neko Te_  still in their box, the fire somehow still going in the furnace (perhaps time wasn't much of a factor here while they were gone), and there was still a blood streak from where she pushed the zombie off the railing.

Tank clapped his hands, grabbing her attention. "Come on, Blue, let's go!"

She groaned as she forced herself off the bed, rubbing at her stiff shoulders. "You seem awfully chipper, don't you?"

"Nope, I just know you're not a morning person."

"Fuck off."

She and Tank walked down the stairs together, filling in the silence with some small talk. there wasn't much need for it, if either of them had to be completely honest, but it was just nice being able to have small talks at all. Kept things going, kept the air from being too stale or awkward.

Once they reached the bottom of the stairs, and walked out of the tower, Vivian took a good look around the area, shivering slightly as she felt the cold hit her, even through her leather jacket.

Still the same old castle.

Vivian then looked at the console that was pressed against the stone ledge of the castle. Still the same.

Aside from the blood that was splattered all over it.

Her head tilted to the side slightly as she approached the console, carefully inspecting the dried blood. It was too bright of a red to be zombie blood, and it was splattered in a certain direction, not on one spot. If it were a zombie, the blood would be far darker and if it was shot at, the blood splatter would be in one spot, not spread across the whole thing.

And there would be a zombie body or at least some flesh bits.

She looked more carefully at the scene before her, noting that there was a dried spot of blood on the ground as well, and a smear of blood on one of the stone wall ledges. The smear looked to take some sort of shape, but she couldn't quite make it out.

Upon looking more closely, and then looking over the other side of the stone ledge, she could just barely make out the shape the blood smear made.

There were handprints. Zombies didn't grab onto ledges, in fact, if they did, it was only to climb up and onto things, not to keep themselves from sliding off.

She took a few more moments to assess the small scene, and once she realized what it was, she stumbled backwards, suddenly feeling extremely dizzy.

Tank took a hold of her arm, keeping her from falling over. "Hey, baby blue, what's wrong?"

Vivian felt tears stinging at her eyes and she quickly wiped them away, not wanting to lose her composure now. "I think... I think I know what happened to Daren."

The Marine looked at the bloody console and the wall, and he rubbed gently at her arms. "Vivian, it ain't your fault..." He reminded her, placing a gentle kiss on her cheek. "Come on, they're waiting in the courtyard."

She followed him down the next set of stairs, her mind still reeling from the revelation. The Panzer had knocked him around first before either kicking or shoving Daren off the ledge of the castle. Jesus Christ, since when did that thing even have any sentience? It was just a mechanical zombie, they weren't meant to hurt the living like that, just kill them and be done with them.

What was Samantha trying to do to them?

Upon getting down into the courtyard, she did her best to ignore the giant spot of blood in the snow, where Scott had died.

It wasn't your fault, Vee, she told herself. Wasn't your fault...

She clapped her hands once they finally reached where the other three were waiting. "Okay, so, we all know we need to feed the dragons. Since all the doors are still open, that makes things a lot easier for us. Do we still have our points?"

A number flashed briefly across her eyes and she groaned. "Okay, forget I asked. We're down to the basics but we can still manage. All we need to do is feed the dragons, wrack up our points while doing so, and get good weapons while we try and complete the different bows, which I'm hoping you haven't all forgotten already."

/ / /

They all had headed off to bed as soon as Vivian was finished with explaining the plan. Of course it took quite a few hours, considering now they had a full visual and they had to cover more than just basics. Took a lot of energy out of them, which they'd need for the next day.

Of course, sleep wasn't coming easy for her once again, and it seemed to not be coming for Tank either, who was constantly tossing and turning.

When he turned once more, she gave his arm a good smack. "Would you stop?" She hissed. "You're making  _me_  restless."

Tank turned onto his side and sighed. "You're no different when you're trying to get to sleep."

She shook her head. "I don't get  _that_  annoying though, and if I do you've never said anything so you can't complain."

She tucked the bedsheet under her arm and she snuggled into her pillow, her one arm underneath it for firm support under her head. "Try to get some sleep, alright?"

Closing her eyes, she did her best to heed her own advice, knowing she'd be grumpy in the morning if she didn't sleep for a few hours. And she didn't want to be in a bad mood once they started getting into the egg itself.

She suddenly felt something snaking around her waist and she nearly smacked it away before she realized it was just Tank's arm. "Hon, what are you doing?" she asked, her eyes opening to see a very cheeky-looking Marine.

"Just getting some extra body heat." He replied with a small wink. "It's getting a little chilly."

Vivian rolled her eyes. "There's plenty of body heat under the covers."

"We could always make more, sweetheart." He gave her a chaste kiss on her lips. "Keep us toasty for the evening."

Smug little shit, she thought to herself. Still, she couldn't help but play along, now feeling rather flirtatious herself. "And just how would you propose going about that, hm?"

Tank chuckled as he placed himself atop Vivian, resting himself on his elbows. "How's about I show you?"

She wrapped her arms around his torso, tilting her head to the side as he leaned down for a kiss, a lot less chaste than the first one. He still smelled strongly of musk, and a bit of lavender, probably from the soaps they used when they bathed in the river back in the forest.

She liked it.

He felt her hands roam down his chest, his abdomen, and then to the belt that held his trousers up, undoing it quickly and tossing it to the side. He sat himself up so he could remove his shirt, leaving his chest bare.

Tank gently pulled her up and he leaned back so then she was on top of him. "Your turn, darlin'." He purred, his hands resting on her hips.

With a small giggle, she pulled her tank top off, and her bra was quick to follow, and his hands traveled from her hips to her plump breasts, making her shiver with anticipation.

This was going to be a long evening.


End file.
